Language and Literacy
Language is a key part of early childhood education and helps lay the foundation for success in school.
Sesame Street friend Buzz Word Explains Why Language Is Important
By talking to—and listening to—kids, we help them learn how to make choices, solve problems, and express themselves.
Language and Literacy Subtopics
Explore further and help spark a love of language.
Reading
Reading together opens doors to new and exciting worlds. Helping children learn to read and nurturing a love of reading helps prepare them to succeed in school…and in life!
Vocabulary
Explore the many ways to expand and grow a child’s vocabulary.
Asking questions builds language skills and starts rich conversations. Use these resources to spark meaningful conversations in everyday moments.
Ask Questions, Build Skills
Questions can inspire and help children imagine and wonder. Ask questions and learn how to add new words into your vocabulary with Abby, Elmo, and Buzz.
Talking is Teaching
Share this story with your baby or toddler to encourage language skills.
Language in Everyday Moments
Use these ideas to help children learn all day long.
Everyday Conversation Cards
Use these cards as conversation starters during your everyday routines.
Walk & Talk
Spark conversations by pointing out new objects.
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Inventemos un cuento
Leer cuentos desarrolla el vocabulario y las destrezas del pensamiento crítico. También es una forma de estrechar vínculos afectivos y compartir la cultura y las tradiciones familiares.
Tarjetas de convesaciones diarias
Use estas tarjetas para iniciar conversaciones durante las rutinas diarias.
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Building a Reader
An interactive course that explores key literacy goals, strategies, and activities to support learning around language and literacy in children ages 2-5.
Abby’s Letter Garden
Prepare children for school success by exposing them to uppercase letters, helping them recognize them, and write them themselves.
Building and Rebuilding Language Skills—and Community!
An article about building children’s language skills by enriching your interactions.
I Know My Letters
A printable alphabet coloring page.
Terry Crews Is an Artist
Terry Crews, Count, and Abby talk about the word “artist.”
Alphabet Art
Alphabet art is a fun, hands-on way to help kids recognize the shapes of letters. It can also provide an opportunity to layer in learning across subjects. Watch this video and think of ways you might incorporate letter crafts into your work with kids and families.
Creating Alphabet-Rich Environments
Alphabet recognition involves learning the names, shapes, and sounds of the letters in the alphabet, and it helps get kids ready for phonics learning. There are so many ways to introduce the alphabet to young children. Adding a little alphabet magic to your environment can be a great place to start.
Phonemic Awareness
Activities like word blending can help kids build phonemic awareness, which is the understanding that words are made up of a series of separate sounds, called phonemes.
Great Phonics Instruction
In this webinar, author and education consultant Wiley Blevins, shares his insights into best practices for teaching phonics skills to young children.
Parents, caregivers, and providers can keep the learning going! Find more topics and resources to help children build skills that lay the foundation for success in school and in life.
Childhood Milestones
So much brain development happens in the earliest years of life, and little ones thrive when they have lots of nurturing interactions with caring adults.
School Readiness
Simple ways to lay the foundation for learning.
Learning Through Play
Did you know there is a relationship between play and learning? Children love to play and, as they do, they’re exploring the world around them, building self-confidence, and practicing important skills crucial to brain development.
