Pre-Literacy and literacy skills: learning to read, write and spell

Reading and writing are essential skills for children to be able to participate fully in their education and learning. Some signs of difficulties you can look for include:

  • Not developing confidence with letters and sounds.
  • Not learning to recognise alphabet letters.
  • Showing poor awareness of sounds in speech.
  • Mispronouncing several longer words.
  • Persisting with immature grammar.
  • Not developing the ability to tell stories and give explanations.
  • Not showing an interest in listening to stories.
  • Not reading grade-level texts fluently and accurately.
  • Not using a strong range of spelling strategies.
  • Not able to make inferences as they read.