Concept of Print

Concept of print is the awareness of how print works. It’s a skill that naturally develops from reading often with children. After all, they learn so much through imitation! Concept of print includes the understanding that:

• Print has meaning

• Words are separated by spaces

• Text is read from left to right

• Punctuation marks signal the end of a sentence

• Print can be used for different purposes

• Words represent spoken language

• Stories have a beginning, middle, and end

• Books have many features: title, author, front cover, back cover, etc.

How to work on the concept of print at home:

• Introduce books by their title.

• Model how to correctly hold a book and turn the page. Let your child practice!

• Make it funny and start with the book upside down! Let your kiddo turn it around for you.

• Point out words in your environment.

• Read some books with large print and point to each word as you read.

• Can you show me:

  • a letter?

  • a word?

  • a sentence?

  • the end of a sentence (punctuation mark)?

  • the front of the book?

  • the back of the book?

  • where I should start reading the story?

  • a space?

  • how I should hold the book?

  • the title of the book?

  • how many words are in this sentence?

Be sure to check out my ebook, Teaching Alphabet Knowledge for more resources! It includes everything parents, teachers, homeschoolers, and caregivers need to know about teaching letters, letter sounds, and handwriting with kiddos two through kindergarten.