Literacy is something that happens gradually and in stages. It occurs differently in individuals such that children of the same age can develop faster or at a slower pace than their peers. Literacy is defined as the capacity to read, write, speak and comprehend language and written material in a manner that enables effective communication and understanding. The literacy process begins at early childhood, once an infant is able to recognize his/her environment and interact with other people.
My literacy journey began at six months once I began paying attention to the things around me. At this age, I was attracted to colorful pictures and was curious about the details in those pictures. As I geared towards 12 months, I started producing babbling sounds which at first comprised a mere ‘–ba' or ‘–ma' sound but later advanced to ‘mama' and ‘dada.' At 11 months, I took preference in particular faces and pictures. I particularly loved pictures with humans and animals that I was familiar with.
At 12 months, I was old enough to sit on my own and could play with alphabetical toys. By then, I could not comprehend the letters of the alphabet but loved the fact that they were colorful and small enough to fit my hands. By the time I was 18 months, I could point out familiar objects like my pair of shoes, the cat, and the dog. At this age, I began uttering my first few words, the first one being ‘tenk u' to mean ‘thank you.'