LITERACY

Early literacy skills are the first building blocks children need before they learn to read and write. These skills help children understand how spoken language connects to written language.

Early literacy includes:  

• Knowing letter–sound links (e.g., b says /b/)  

• Hearing sounds at the start or end of words (e.g., bus starts with /b/)  

• Breaking words into sounds (e.g., dog → /d/‑/o/‑/g/)  

• Clapping syllables (e.g., a‑ni‑mal)  

• Rhyming (e.g., cat, hat, mat)  

• Print awareness (knowing the cover, title and words in a book)

These early skills support later reading, spelling, and writing.

• Reading means recognising words and understanding what they say.  

• Spelling means being able to write words down, using orthographic memory and sound-letter relationships

• Writing means putting ideas into sentences using correct spelling, grammar and punctuation

Speech pathologists can support children with early literacy, reading, spelling and writing