Literacy Skills: Narrative Skills, Vocabulary and Phonological Awareness

This post will be part one of my discussion on literacy skills. Today, we'll cover three and then we'll cover the last three tomorrow.

Vocabulary:
What is it?
This one is pretty simple. Knowing the names of things is a great skill when children are first learning to read. They can use the pictures as clues but, if they don't know what the picture is of, they'll struggle with the words on the page.
How can you help?
Building vocabulary can be as simple as talking to your child about the things they see around them and reading the books, both fiction and nonfiction.

Narrative Skills:
What is it?
Narrative skills is the ability to describe things and also understand and tell stories. This skill will ultimately help them learn how to read and enhance their conversation skills. Beginning narrative skills show themselves when a child is able to tell about an activity at school or relate a story about going to the store.
How can you help?
There are a few ways to encourage this literacy skill. Ask your child to tell you about the story they just read instead of having them passively sit while you read the story. Having your child relate stories that have a sequence to them will also enhance this skill.

Phonological Awareness:
What is it?
Hearing and manipulating the sounds in words is called phonological awareness. This includes the ability to hear and make rhymes, say words with certain sounds left out or put two sounds together to make a word. Trouble with this skill is where most trouble reading tends to surface.
How can you help?
Words games are a great way to help your child with this skill. Some examples include making up silly words or saying words with a pause in between ("tr" and "uck").