What is Literacy?
Literacy is the ability to read and write text effectively.
To read and write, however, children need to develop several foundational language and cognitive skills:
1. Visual Memory. Visual memory is the ability to remember what has been seen – important for learning sight words and letter formation and combinations.
2. Visual Discrimination. Visual discrimination is the ability to tell differences and similarities – especially in letters such as b and d, or similar words such as bad and dad.
3. Auditory Discrimination. With auditory discrimination, kids will be able to hear the differences and similarities in sounds and words.
4. Retelling a Story. Once you read or tell a story to your children, they need to be able to retell the story back to you. They may retell the main idea or recount the beginning, middle, and end of the story, though not necessarily every detail. Story telling supports children’s comprehension of text. It also supports cognitive skills like verbal working memory.
5. Predicting Sequence. As a story unfolds, children should be able to predict what happens next and sequence the events.
6. Cause and Effect. Cause and effect is the understanding of why something happens and what action led to the outcome.
7. Picture Reading. This occurs when a child can read a story and understand it just by looking at the pictures. It also includes answering questions related to the story by only referring to the pictures. A child can learn to deduce from the information in pictures. For example, even though the text does not say what time of day it is, the image suggests it is daytime since the sun is shining.
8. Visual Literacy. Visual literacy is the ability to understand and make meaning of information in the form of an image.
9. Matching. Matching is a skill many children excel at from an early age, especially when they engage in matching games.
It involves finding pictures or concepts that are similar to one another.
10. Focusing on Detail. This skill will help children to focus on smaller, less obvious details.
11. Sound Awareness. Sound awareness involves hearing and interpreting sounds. It includes listening for sounds, identifying sounds, telling sounds apart and more.
12. Rhyme Awareness. Rhyme awareness is when a child can recognize what sounds and words rhyme. They also learn to say rhyming words.
13. Letter Knowledge. Children should be exposed to letters early on. Playing with physical letters is the most effective way to teach letter formation practically.
Learning how to form letters on a worksheet is part of formal reading and writing education and is not necessary during the early years before fine motor skills are properly formed.
14. Name Recognition. This is an exciting skill as a child can look at letters on a piece of paper, and read and recognize their name.
15. Pattern Recognition. Pattern recognition is when children can see a pattern.
They can see shapes and the relationship between them and can even predict the missing piece in the pattern.
16. Phonological Awareness. Phonological awareness refers to a child’s ability to hear specific sounds within a word. As children’s vocabulary grows, they become more sensitive to the speech sounds that make up words and how those speech sound may combine different to make different words. For example, the word “cat” is made up of “c”, “a”, and “t”. If you change the last letter to “p”, you make a new word, “cap”. Phonological awareness helps children breaks up words into sounds and is related to their reading ability.
17. Spatial Orientation. Spatial orientation is when children understand how their body functions in space. When they can orientate themselves, they can later apply this skill when reading and writing – for example, by spacing letters on a page.
Parent tip sheet: https://handsandvoices.org/fl3/fl3-docs/parent-take-aways/parenttake-aways_02-early-literacy.pdf
Why are deaf or hard of hearing children are at risk for reading disorders?
Research shows that deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children are delayed in their phonological awareness, alphabetic knowledge and vocabulary. The effects of these deficits can be long-lasting and profound, putting deaf or hard of hearing children at risk of falling behind from an early age. These delays can stem from:
- Early periods of auditory and language deprivation, which
disrupts or delays children's perception of speech sounds (known as phonemes)
delays vocabulary size and depth
disrupts cognitive development, like working memory, which is important for story telling
- Distortion by hearing devices. Even when provided with hearing devices, speech may still be distorted due to the technical limitations of hearing devices. This distortion makes it difficult to resolve individual phonemes and makes it harder for children to learn which sounds match which letters.
Reading with children who are deaf or hard of hearing
Reading is part of everyday life, whether it's books, recipes, or street signs. For children who are deaf or hard of hearing, developing strong language skills can take extra time and exposure. In fact, they may need to hear or see a word up to 60 times more than their hearing peers to fully learn it.
One of the most powerful ways to support this learning is through reading. You can begin reading to your child from birth. Even just a few minutes a day—several times throughout the day—can make a big difference. It helps your child build vocabulary, strengthens communication, and supports a strong bond between you and your child.
Reading Tips by Age and Stage
Infants & Toddlers:
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Start with simple board books that include textures, flaps, and songs. Use expressive tones and exaggerated animal sounds (like “mooooo!”) to keep your child engaged.
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Let children look at the pictures and turn the pages as they grow.
Preschoolers & Beyond:
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Begin pointing to and naming objects in the pictures.
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As your child learns letters, trace the words with your finger and highlight letters they recognize.
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Encourage your child to “read” the story, even if the words aren’t perfect—this builds confidence and interest.
Tips for reading with children who learn through spoken language
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Make sure your child can see your mouth and hands while you read. Try different positions—on their tummy or back, in a high chair, or on your lap.
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Use repetition, facial expressions, and animated voices to bring the story to life.
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You don’t need to read every word. Focus on talking about the pictures, actions, and what your child notices on the page.
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As your child develops, encourage them to turn pages, recognize letters, and answer questions about the story. You can also model curiosity by asking and answering your own questions.
Tips for reading with children who learn through sign language *Adapted from The Shared Reading Project at Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center at Gallaudet University
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Choose a book that you both like.
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Ensure that your child can see the book and your face.
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Read the text on the page and add to it.
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Discuss pictures.
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Talk about the story.
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Ask questions about the story.
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Connect the book to real life experiences.
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Have your child predict what will happen next.
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Be willing to act out the characters and the story.
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It’s ok if you don’t know the sign. Act it out, use a gesture, or point to the pictures.
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Re-read the story.
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Involve your child. Let them turn the pages, point to pictures, or “read” the pictures.
For additional tips for reading to deaf or hard of hearing children using ASL, check out 15 Principles for Reading to Deaf Children.
REMEMBER: The more you read, the more language your child is exposed to—and the stronger their communication skills become. For children with hearing loss, regular reading is essential for supporting overall language development.