Supporting Reading at Home: Print Awareness

This is the first of a multi-part series on supporting reading development at home. Today’s topic is on print awareness.

Print is written language. Print awareness is understanding the forms and functions of written language. This includes the conventions of print, the conventions of book, that print carries meaning and that print is symbols for spoken language.

Young children need to understand that the lines they see on a page represent spoken language. They must also understand that when someone reads, their words are linked to the words on the page.

For example, a child learning to read in the English language must understand that English print is read from left to right and top to bottom. A child learning to read in the Arabic language must understand that Arabic print is read from right to left and from top to bottom.

As adults who can read, we rarely think about prints form and function. But young children who are just learning to read are building awareness of print through their interactions with various forms of print.

So, why is print awareness important to reading development?

Print awareness is one of the foundational skills needed to learn to read. Studies show that pre-school age children’s print awareness is a reliable predictor of future reading achievement.  

So how do I know if my child has “print awareness “ and how can I help them develop it if they do not?

While most children become aware of print long before they begin Kindergarten, you can still support print awareness with active and intentional interactions with them which calls out various features of print. Print awareness is an important skill that supports reading development and is foundational to reading and writing.

There are various simple and informal assessments that parents and caregivers can use to monitor their child’s print awareness.

💛 Here is a free print awareness checklist and resource list that I developed through my work as a global literacy professional.

💛 Let me know how it goes and if you have any questions in the comment box below!