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Early Literacy Checklist — In the Home

Follow a checklist of suggested activities and environments to help your child’s literacy development. This is the eighth publication in a series of nine.

Adapted by
Janet S. Hanna, Kayla M. Hinrichs and Carla J. Mahar, Extension Educators
John D. DeFrain and Tonia R. Durden, Family Life Specialists

StoryQUEST’s Vision: High-quality early relationships and experiences throughout their daily routines provide each infant and toddler with the tools and skills to build a strong foundation for future school readiness. Families, caregivers, and communities as a whole collaborate to enable all children to become highly competent in language and literacy. This series was developed as part of a national research project — StoryQUEST — through the California Institute on Human Services, Sonoma State University.

This checklist represents the kinds of language and literacy development practices often seen in high-quality early childhood environments. The checklist encompasses all children birth to age 5 and is inclusive of the needs of children with disabilities and in English language learners.

Family ________________________________________________Date_________________________

Completed by _______________________________________________________________________

Literacy-Rich Environment	Need no help in this area	Need some help in this area	Need considerable help in this area
Children have easy access to art/writing materials.
Children have easy access to books.
Family has a variety of books (soft, board books, homemade books, poetry books).
Family provides opportunities for music, nursery rhymes, poems, singing, storytelling.
Children have good light to read by.
Parents display pictures, posters, photos, children’s artwork.
Parents interact with children and books.
Parents talk with infants and toddlers about pictures, signs, and words in their environment.
Parents talk with the child about an older toddler’s attempts to draw or write and explain that his or her attempts at scribbling can have meaning.
Parents write grocery lists, notes, etc., where children can see them.
Parents interact with and imitate children’s babbling. Parents use/model singing, storytelling, rhymes, and talking intentionally with children; staff document this on lesson plan/socialization schedule.
Parents share the strategies of imitating, singing, storytelling and talking intentionally with children and families and document.

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of the 2003-2004 StoryQUEST – Central Nebraska Community Services team.

This publication has been peer reviewed.

Visit the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension Publications Web site for more publications.
Index: Families
Preschool
Issued January 2010