Environmental Print

"Look Mommy, that says McDonald's." That statement will probably be the first your child will say to you that lets you know he or she recognizes the letters or words that spell McDonald's. The next may be, "Look Mommy, that says WalMart", if you are a WalMart shopper. These moments of enlightenment mean that your child is recognizing environmental print......print that exists in the environment of commercialism.

This is an important developmental milestone in your child's development and is a pre-cursor to reading. When your child begins to notice commercial signs that are familiar, you should reinforce the statements with responses such as, "Yes, that means McDonald's. That is an M." Later, you can reinforce the recognition of the entire word. When you take your child shopping with you, point out signs that indicate the names of familiar places such as Publix (if you are from the south), or Trader Joe's (if you are lucky enough to have one of those around), or Burger King and Wendy's.

As your child begins to make connections between words in the environment and words in books, he or she will begin learning that words and word meanings are also connected. The environment of commercialism is the first place your child will begin "reading". Encourage it.