Supporting Your Youngest Reader: Talking is Teaching, Language is Literacy
Oral Language is the Foundation
Learning to read starts at home, long before your child starts school. Children build most of their speech and language skills (called oral language) during their first three years of life. Oral language is the foundation children use to become successful readers and writers. Before children can understand words on a page, they need to understand and use spoken language. This develops through everyday conversations, songs, stories, and play.
Here are some of the important parts of oral language:
Sounds: Children learn that words are made up of sounds, like that cat and car start with the same sound.
Words and meaning: Children learn what words mean and how to use them. The more words children hear and use, the more they can understand when they begin reading.
Sentences: Children learn how words fit together to make sentences and express complete ideas.
Communication and conversation: Children learn how to listen, take turns talking, ask questions, tell stories, and explain what they are seeing, thinking or feeling.
Watch Dr Julie Washington share about the importance of developing oral language and vocabulary for learning to read.
How Can I Help?
Every day, you can help your baby or toddler build oral language skills by talking, singing, reading books, writing, and playing together. These simple activities help your child learn new words and understand how language works. Here are some tips from our partners at Oakland Starting Smart and Strong:
For Infants:
Talk: Call out what you see together when you are out and about: "I love that red truck! It goes beep beep!"
Read: Cuddle up and read daily, even to a newborn. Try pointing at pictures, as that builds language and vocabulary.
Sing: Sing the same bedtime song each night to help your baby feel calm and safe.
For Toddlers:
Talk: Play "I-Spy" in the grocery store. You can pick a color and have them find matching objects.
Read: Ask open-ended questions while reading, like "What would you do if you were her?"
Sing: Sing rhyming/counting songs, like "One, two, buckle my shoe."
Back and Forth Interactions
When your baby or young child makes a sound, points, smiles, cries, or reaches for you, they are communicating with you. When you respond by looking at them, talking to them, smiling, or giving them a hug, you are having a “serve and return” interaction. These back-and-forth moments help your child’s brain grow and build important skills for communication, learning, and relationships.
Think of it like playing a game of catch. Your child starts by making a “serve,” and you respond with a “return.” Then your child responds back, and the conversation continues. These simple exchanges give your child valuable practice with listening, communicating, taking turns, and connecting with others.
There are many easy ways to practice serve and return throughout your day. Follow your child’s interests, respond to their sounds and gestures, talk about what they are looking at, sing a song together, or simply share a smile and a cuddle. When you notice and respond to your child’s signals, you are helping them feel safe, loved, and ready to learn.
Learn more about back and forth interactions with babies.
Learn more on the Birth to Age 2 page.
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