Annual Pre-Braille Literacy Event

In honor of Braille Literacy Month, our Readiness program presents a fun-filled Pre-Braille Literacy Event, thoughtfully designed to provide preschoolers with hands-on opportunities to explore early braille concepts, sensory awareness, and fine-motor development in inclusive, developmentally appropriate ways.

 

Supporting our growing Low Vision and Blind (BVI) pre-school student cohort, this event highlights the importance of developing Pre-Braille literacy skills in children ages 3-5.

 

Like their sighted peers, BVI preschoolers begin developing pre-literacy skills in early childhood as they explore the world around them and listen to words spoken in relation to their environment, e.g., "This smooth red apple is warm from the sun. You can pick it up with your hand and hold it tightly with all of your fingers. Let's try to pick it up together."

 

Unlike their sighted peers, they rely heavily on their sense of touch and vibration to build pre-literacy skills, eventually using their fingertips to feel the physical pressure of a raised Braille dot and to understand what each dot means.
We encourage all families to incorporate Pre-Braille literacy at home through play, supporting their children's literacy and Pre-Braille literacy awareness as part of their learning journey. 

Featured during our event, ideas for promoting Pre-Braille literacy include. 

• Braille Legos and Boards that introduce early braille concepts while promoting fine-motor skills and shared learning experiences. 
• Decorate shapes using a variety of textures and scented markers to enhance sensory awareness through touch and smell. 
• Set up a sensory table exploration station by placing small textured items (ex, large white beans and pom-poms) in bowls. Encourage your child to use tongs to pick up items to support their pincer grasp, finger isolation skills, and hand control.
• Make friendship bracelets out of pipe cleaners and beads to strengthen hand muscles while building coordination and dexterity.
• Create a Sensory Walk (barefoot optional) to encourage tactile discrimination and help children use their feet and hands to reinforce basic concepts such as hard/soft and bumpy/smooth.
• Dedicate a bookshelf for large print, Braille, and textured picture books that are easily accessible to children.

 

Combining all these components is akin to connecting the dots to see a larger picture, a set of sequential steps, building on the next, with the end goal of a solid foundation for future reading and writing in Braille.

 

To learn more about teaching pre-braille literacy, visit Paths to Literacy and watch the American Printing House for the Blind's YouTube video titled: Tips and Techniques to Develop Pre-Braille Skills in Toddlers.