Literacy is much more than simply learning to read and write. It involves a range of skills that help children understand, use, and communicate through written language. Strong literacy skills allow children to access learning at school, follow written instructions, enjoy books, express their ideas in writing, and participate more independently in everyday life.

Learning to read and spell relies on several underlying language skills. These include understanding and using vocabulary, recognising the sounds within words, connecting sounds with letters, understanding sentences and stories, and being able to organise and communicate ideas.

For some children, these skills develop relatively easily. For others, learning to read, spell, or write can require more explicit teaching and additional support.

Children who experience literacy difficulties may find it challenging to sound out unfamiliar words, remember spelling patterns, read fluently, understand what they have read, or organise their ideas when writing. These challenges can sometimes impact a child’s confidence and willingness to participate in classroom activities.

The good news is that literacy skills can be explicitly taught and strengthened over time. Providing children with clear, systematic instruction and plenty of opportunities to practise can help build confidence and create strong foundations for future learning.

Important skills that support literacy development

Several skills work together when children are learning to read and write. These include:

  • Phonological awareness: recognising and manipulating sounds within spoken words, such as identifying rhyming words, breaking words into syllables, and identifying individual sounds.
  • Phonics: learning the relationship between letters and the sounds they represent.
  • Decoding: using sound–letter knowledge to read unfamiliar words.
  • Spelling: representing the sounds within words using letters and recognising common spelling patterns.
  • Vocabulary: understanding the meanings of words and being able to use a broad range of vocabulary.
  • Reading fluency: reading accurately and smoothly with appropriate expression.
  • Reading comprehension: understanding, remembering, and thinking about what has been read.
  • Written expression: organising ideas and communicating them clearly through sentences and longer pieces of writing.

These skills are closely connected. A child may be strong in some areas while requiring additional support in others.

How parents can support literacy at home

Parents and caregivers can support literacy development through everyday activities without making reading and writing feel like homework. Some simple ideas include:

  • Reading together regularly and choosing books based on your child’s interests.
  • Talking about the pictures, characters, and events in stories rather than focusing only on reading the words.
  • Asking open-ended questions such as “What do you think will happen next?” or “Why do you think they did that?”
  • Playing with sounds in words through rhyming games, syllable clapping, or identifying the first sound in words.
  • Encouraging your child to sound out unfamiliar words rather than immediately telling them the word.
  • Pointing out letters, words, and print during everyday activities such as reading menus, recipes, signs, shopping lists, or instructions.
  • Practising spelling through meaningful activities such as writing birthday cards, shopping lists, notes, or messages.
  • Introducing new vocabulary during conversations and explaining unfamiliar words.
  • Celebrating effort and progress rather than focusing solely on whether a word was read or spelled correctly.

Keeping literacy experiences positive and achievable can help children develop confidence and see reading and writing as meaningful parts of everyday life.

How we support literacy at Sunshine Speech & Allied Health

At Sunshine Speech & Allied Health, our Speech Pathologists can support children who are experiencing difficulties with the language skills that underpin reading, spelling, and written expression.

Speech Pathologists have an important role in literacy because spoken and written language are closely connected. Difficulties with speech sounds, vocabulary, grammar, understanding language, or phonological awareness can sometimes contribute to difficulties with reading and writing.

Depending on the individual child, we may support literacy development by:

  • Completing individualised assessments to identify a child’s literacy strengths and areas requiring support.
  • Developing phonological and phonemic awareness skills, including identifying, blending, segmenting, and manipulating sounds within words.
  • Teaching children how speech sounds connect with written letters and letter combinations.
  • Supporting decoding skills so children can approach unfamiliar words more independently.
  • Developing spelling skills through explicit teaching of sounds, spelling patterns, and word structures.
  • Building vocabulary and oral language skills to support reading comprehension.
  • Teaching strategies to help children understand, remember, and discuss what they have read.
  • Supporting sentence construction, grammar, vocabulary, and organisation of ideas for written tasks.
  • Collaborating with families and schools to help children use their literacy strategies across different environments.

Our goal is not only to help children become stronger readers and writers, but also to build their confidence and independence when approaching literacy tasks.

Every child develops at their own pace, but when literacy continues to feel particularly difficult, early identification and targeted support can make a meaningful difference. With the right strategies, explicit teaching, and plenty of encouragement, children can continue building the skills they need to participate confidently in learning and everyday life.

References

Castles, A., Rastle, K., & Nation, K. (2018). Ending the reading wars: Reading acquisition from novice to expert. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 19(1), 5–51.

Gillon, G. T. (2018). Phonological awareness: From research to practice (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Snowling, M. J., & Hulme, C. (2021). Annual Research Review: Reading disorders revisited – the critical importance of oral language. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 62(5), 635–653.