Literacy

Reading, along with writing, makes up literacy, one of the four specific areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Reading's Early Learning Goal is:

• Children read and understand simple sentences. They use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately. They also read some common irregular words. They demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they have read.

To be ready to start reading, children need to have a variety of skills in place. These early reading skills include matching, rhyming, awareness of phonics and the skills associated with language development such as listening, attention, alliteration and sound discrimination.