Home Early Identification and Intervention How Our Preschool Programme Builds Strong Early Literacy Foundations

Early Identification and Intervention

How Our Preschool Programme Builds Strong Early Literacy Foundations

At DAS, we believe that reading is not just about memorising the alphabet or words. For preschoolers, building a strong foundation for early literacy involves a rich tapestry of skills that go “beyond the ABCs.” At DAS, our Preschool Team is passionate about helping every preschooler develop important early literacy skills!

What are some of the early literacy skills covered in our Preschool programme?
  • Alphabet Knowledge: This includes learning about letter formation, letter sounds, and letter sequencing.
  • Phonological Awareness: Phonological awareness is a key indicator of a preschooler’s reading and spelling skills. It is the ability to recognise and manipulate sounds in spoken words. This includes rhyming, hearing beginning, middle, and ending sounds, and manipulating individual sounds in a word.
  • High-Frequency Words: These are words that commonly appear in text. The more high-frequency words your child knows, the more fluent your child will get when it comes to reading.
What are some of the activities I can do with my child to promote early literacy skills?
  • Alphabet knowledge: Point out letters around your environment and encourage your child to name the letter. Use multi-sensory activities such as writing letters in a sand tray.
  • Phonological Awareness: You may consider teaching your child how to identify the beginning and ending sound in a word (e.g., beginning sound /c/ and ending sound /t/ in the word ‘cat’).
  • High-frequency words: Point to the high-frequency words in text or sentences so your child is able to recognise the word in context. Practice recognizing sight words by encouraging your child to swat the word using a fly swatter.

We hope the above tips will encourage you to explore ways to incorporate these early literacy activities into your daily routines at home!

If you are keen to find out more about our Preschool Programme, click here.

Weng Yiyao
DAS Preschool Programme Manager and Lead Educational Therapist

About The Author

Weng Yiyao is the Lead Educational Therapist and Preschool Programme Manager at the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS). With over a decade of experience, she specialises in supporting preschoolers with dyslexia through targeted literacy interventions. Passionate about empowering young learners, Yiyao is also a fellow of the Register of Educational Therapists Asia (RETA) and holds a Master of Arts in Special Educational Needs.

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