My mom took me to the bank to open my first account when I was in elementary school. She explained to me that a bank account was for saving money for things that I might want or need in the future.

As I grew older, all the money from my babysitting gigs and my small baking business went into that little account, slowly growing with me through middle and high school. When I got to college, that little account was more than little, and I withdrew from it when I needed important things like books, lab supplies or a new dress. My early deposits paid off when I needed them.

I think about literacy in the same way I think about that little bank account. Small, but consistent, deposits add up. The more deposits we make, the more the account grows to be drawn upon later.

Literacy — the practices, knowledge and skills required for reading, writing, speaking and listening — is an investment in our students’ futures. Beginning as early as prekindergarten, we are in the powerful and important position to make deposits into each student’s individual literacy bank. Luckily, unlike a starter bank account, students’ literacy banks don’t start empty when they begin school, and they never run a deficit. This year, students will begin the year with literacy banks that are already full of their individual cultural, linguistic and social capital that teachers can add to.

What are some contributions to students’ literacy banks that educators can make now that add up for students later?

One of the first and biggest deposits happens in the early grades with foundational skills.  Systematic and explicit teaching of foundational reading skills like print concepts, phonemic awareness (the ability to hear and manipulate the component sounds that make up words), phonics and word recognition, oral comprehension and fluency in the early grades adds up to and grows into independent reading, comprehension, analysis and evaluation.

Foundational writing skills like handwriting, word and sentence composition, spelling and grammar help students build longer and more robust compositions.

Read the full article about increasing child literacy by Miah Daughtery at EdSource.