Nursery World - Early literacy: Chapter and verse

Help parents to understand simple and accessible ways to encourage children's development of literacy, with advice from Amelia Foster and Marian Whitehead

We know that babies and toddlers need books in the home. The EPPE (Effective Provision of Pre-School Education) study being carried out by the Institute of Education has shown that pre-school children who have access to books in the home perform better throughout Key Stage One, regardless of the level of their parents' education.

Learning to turn the pages and chatting about the pictures helps to develop a baby's literacy and, more crucially, oracy. We should take seriously the findings of Ann Locke and Dr Jane Ginsbourg of Sheffield University reported in Nursery World (10 January 2002), that over-emphasis on early literacy is delaying oracy and early language. The National Literacy Trust is campaigning for a joined-up approach to supporting all parents and carers in providing a language-rich environment for nought to three- year-old children over the next ten years.

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