Birth to Five Illinois: Early Literacy Starts at Home — and Grows at the Library
July 22, 2026
The first three years of life are crucial for child development. Young minds are primed for learning new skills, hard-wired to absorb new information and put it into practice.
Parents and caregivers can help support the development of new skills by offering positive experiences for their child to practice. This is especially true for early literacy and language development. Children who read together with their parents often see higher levels of school readiness than peers who do not.
Early literacy isn’t just about reading, phonics and sight-words; in fact, formal instruction in reading for children who are not developmentally ready can result in negative associations in the long-term.
Skills that show up
There are many other skills within early literacy that can show up in young children, such as:
— Appropriate handling of books (holding it upright, turning pages, caring for books).
— Looking at and recognizing parts of familiar stories.
— Pointing, discussion or other interest while reading stories.
— Associating pictures with story comprehension.
— Acting out familiar stories or play-reading.
Parents can lead early literacy learning by helping their child engage positively with books, language and early writing. Incorporating reading into routines at bedtime or going to the grocery store together, re-reading familiar books or predictable stories, and asking your child questions about the story you’re reading are all ways caregivers can encourage early literacy development.
Caregiver partner
Libraries are natural caregiver partners for literacy growth. Libraries provide a space full of books to explore, where young children are free to select materials without worrying about costs. They can practice social skills by asking librarians for help and checking out books. Children also learn responsibility by taking care of the shared books and returning them to exchange for others.
Families can visit local libraries for:
— Board books, easy readers and other age-appropriate literacy materials.
— Toys and a fun space to play.
— Family programming such as storytimes and events.
— Meeting and interacting with other children.
Bringing children to the library teaches them that they belong in libraries. These active spaces are stocked with plenty of engaging books to choose from, toys to play with, furniture their size, stories to listen to, people to see and talk with, and more.
Coming right up
Visit Gibson City’s Moyer District Library for upcoming summer programming, including:
— Game Day for Littles (Tuesday, July 28, and Wednesday, July 29). Young children and their caregivers can come enjoy games and activities as part of their All Ages Summer Reading Program.
— Storytime with Jess (10:30 to 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 30). Moyer children’s librarian Jess reads engaging stories to children of all ages.
— Summer Storytime with Birth to Five Illinois: Region 9 (1 p.m. Friday, Aug. 14). Birth to Five Illinois: Region 9 will host a preschool storytime with a fun make-and-take activity. Caregivers can learn more about how Birth to Five Illinois Region 9 is improving early childhood in Ford County and how they can get involved.
Birth to Five Illinois works in every community in the state to:
— Continually assess the early childhood programs available in each region.
— Understand what is available versus what local families say their children need.
— And bring together community members and civic leaders to bridge the gap between what exists and what families need.
Melissa Watson works with Birth to Five Illinois’ Region 9, which includes Champaign and Ford counties. Jessica Titus is director of the Moyer District Library in Gibson City.
