Setting children up for literacy success By joy allcock, director code-ed Learning to read and write in English is complex, but we can make sure children are ready for literacy learning by helping them acquire essential foundational skills. Children develop these skills through play, talk and interactions with their environments. We have an opportunity in early childhood education to ensure that all children start their literacy journey equipped with the skills and knowledge they need for literacy success. How Children Learn From the moment a child is born they are learning about the world. They experience the world through their senses - through what they see, what they hear, what they feel on their skin, what they smell, what they taste, and how they experience their body moving. With time and experience moving about in the world, children develop an awareness of their bodies and how to manage them safely and expertly. They learn to interpret information and adapt the way they operate their bodies in the world. Children are hard-wired to explore, experiment and learn, but they need environments that provide opportunities and experiences which help them along this learning journey. They need to feel safe to try new things, to fail and try again. It is through these kinds of interactions with their environments that children develop the skills and abilities they need for integrating and interpreting the information they constantly receive from the world around them. The platform for all learning depends on having opportunities to acquire and integrate the following groups of skills, along with lots of practice using them: Gross motor skills are actions performed by the large groups of muscles that control our arms, legs, and torsos, allowing us to roll, sit, stand, walk, run, keep our balance, and change the position of our bodies. Fine motor skills are performed by the small muscles in our hands and wrists, allowing us to use eating utensils, manipulate toys, use scissors, manipulate a pencil. Fine motor skills are complex and depend on mastery of gross motor skills. July 2025 { 24 }
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