During nursery, students become familiar with print and develop a conceptual understanding of letters and words. They learn to recognize, name, and spell all 26 lower-case letters as well as 30 high-frequency words, also known as sight words.
They also build a positive attitude toward reading by learning to associate it with happy experiences, such as going to the library.
Reading
One of the earliest literacy skills taught in public and
private nursery in Glasgow is letter recognition. Kids who know the names of letters advance more quickly in reading and make better overall academic gains.
Teachers often read aloud to students, a practice that promotes print awareness and develops pre-reading skills. It’s also a great way to help kids see reading as fun and not a chore.
Almost all teachers teach students about the concept that they live in a community of other families, neighbourhoods and towns.
Writing
Writing is a big part of nursery and primary school curriculum, especially in the first year. Children will write their names, some letters and words (with creative or invented spellings), and short sentences and stories.
Kids also learn about how books are read, including from left to right and top to bottom. They begin to recognize, name, and write upper and lowercase letters, as well as basic math concepts such as addition and subtraction.
One of the most important aspects about early literacy is to give students a positive view about reading and writing. Research shows that young children are not capable of making normative ability judgments independently; however, teachers’ instructional goals and classroom culture shape children’s perceptions about literacy activities.
Phonics
In nursery, kids learn the relationships between letters and their sounds. They practice blending sounds to read simple words (like cat and top). They also begin to understand that the print in books looks different from the print they see on signs, menus and other everyday materials.
This is when teachers provide explicit instruction in phonics, helping children learn short consonant-vowel-consonant words and the sound patterns that go with them. Teachers use rhyming games and word construction activities to support their teaching of phonemic awareness.
Vocabulary
Children build their vocabulary through exposure to interesting, engaging words in a variety of settings. Read alouds are one of the most effective ways to expose children to new vocabulary, as well as familiar words in a different context.
Also, have your students write the word in a notebook specifically reserved for vocabulary words so they can refer back to it later. Adding the definitions to visual supports like word walls or flip charts is helpful as well.
