Early Literacy Experiences

One of the most eye opening experiences of my life occurred in the second grade. I would have never thought that doing one simple assignment in elementary school could change my whole perspective on literacy. My understanding of literacy was sparked when I had read my first real book. I remember sitting down on the vividly colorful carpet day dreaming about playing Mario Cart on my Nintendo 64 while everyone was obediently listening to the teacher read a book out loud. It wasn’t that I did not know how to read or listen, I just didn’t care. Reading to me used to be tedious because I did not understand the purpose of it. I did not grow up with the luxury of my parents reading to me because they weren’t literate in English, so I had to figure out for myself why literacy is vital in everyday life. My ongoing learning experience with literacy can be traced back to one simple visit to library.

Carina Storrs, CNN article “This is your child’s brain on reading”, she discusses the various research studies focusing on early brain development in children who are introduced to literacy at early stages of life. The studies show how the brains activity increases with children as young as newborn. Studies have been performed by many different researchers. Ms. Storrs has quoted several of those researchers in her article with scientific proof of the advantages in a child’s behavior and academic performance by reading to younger children. Various studies have been conducted all over the country with some of the same results.

Next, is the Early Literacy Intervention Literacy Intervention Initiative Act. “The early childhood years are the most Important period for literacy development.” (Freeman, Decker, Decker (2013) p. 231). The Early Literacy Initiative is a joint effort with the State and local government to identify children with reading deficiencies and implement early reading intervention programs. The purpose of Early Literacy Initiative is to reduce the number of poor readers by providing research based prevention programs to ensure that every student can read by the 3rd

We all know reading is boring, time consuming, and compulsory. All though, most kids would agree with that statement, some may disagree. Some can say that if one does not read they can lose knowledge and become less smart. If you don't read there can be consequences for stopping. Reading is valuable because it gives readers the power to escape, to maximize their potential, and to strengthen their mind.

Wah! Wah! Sitting in a dark, dimly lit area with six other crying babies, my head started to ache from the incessant noise. As my head throbbed and my wailing voice cried out over the other kid’s wails, I heard my mother’s voice, loud and clear.

Author note: This paper was prepared for the American Federation of Teachers by Louisa C. Moats, project director, Washington D.C. site of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Early Interventions Project, and clinical associate professor of pediatrics, University of Texas, Houston, Health Sciences Center. Her work is supported in part by grant HD30995, “Early Interventions for Children with Reading Problems,”

What does it mean knowing how to read and write. I take literacy skill very seriosly that will help me in the future. I know such skills don't come easy, it requires hard work, sleepless night. The reason why I go to school is to make mistakes, correct them and not to repeat them again. I always improve my skills through curiosity to learn something new, not being able to read and write would keep me in a darkness without seeing beautiful things that surround me.

As I reflect on my childhood, the first memory of literacy I recall is when I was in kindergarten. I was approaching the end of the school year when my mother revealed to me my teacher was considering keeping me in kindergarten for another year. I was extremely upset and felt as if I had failed my first year of school. I felt that I was fresh out of the gate and already defective. My perception as a child was that the adults were already giving up on me. The teacher stated if I could learn the alphabet by the end of the school year I could continue ahead to the 1st grade. The conclusion of Kindergarten was vastly approaching. My mother constructed flash cards to help with my letter recognition. In doing so, she realized I could not see the letters. My mother promptly made an appointment for me to visit an Optometrist to evaluate me. Before I knew it, I was fitted with a big plastic pair of glasses. My world became much clearer after that. My mother was upset that my teacher did not recognize the problem, and that I never spoke up. Fortunately, I passed kindergarten with a lot of hard work from my parents, teacher, and I.

Research has consistently shown that that reading books to children has a positive effect on literacy outcomes in the following ways:

Literacy is defined as being literate, that is, being able to read and write in a language. My personal experience with literacy began at an early age, at the age of 4 when I began to sit and read words and letters in the back of my mother’s car. Soon enough, she would bring me a magazine called “Majed” which, in the 90’s, was a popular magazine. With this, I began even more interested in reading and writing and reviewed every word in the magazine associated with each of the short pictured stories. It was the first memory I deeply recall of literacy and it was what laid the foundation for my personal love of reading and writing. The methodology used for this is an interview. There are three interviews which are analyzed and brought together in the form of a narrative. This narrative serves to better explain the emotions and thoughts that the interviewees had about the idea of literacy.

“Literacy learning has a profound and lasting effect on the social and academic lives of children. Their future educational opportunities and career choices are directly related to literacy ability. Since early childhood is the period when language develops most rapidly, it is imperative that young children are provided with a variety of developmentally appropriate literacy experiences throughout each day, and that the classroom environment is rich with language, both spoken and printed. Early childhood teachers are responsible for both understanding the developmental continuum of language and literacy and for supporting each child’s literacy development.

Teachers of preschool and kindergarten grades can promote early literacy in their classes by supporting their students in their natural environment. Meaning, children that are in their preschool years are at the natural time for developing their early literacy skills. Teachers should not be drill sergeants in teaching their children early literacy, but rather teachers should incorporate early literacy into games and fun activities. For example, card games with different syllabus on them, creating dances about words, and songs about letters. In addition, teachers should include picture books, story books, alphabet books etc. in their library center. Moreover, in the dramatic play center there should be items to reenact what was just read in

Teaching your child to read at an early age will not only teach them to love stories, but it also benefits your child’s academic future. Toddlers and preschoolers who begin to read early will increase their learning aptitude, which will help them excel academically once they start elementary school.

I’ve never been one to read much outside of school without being assigned to do so. After looking back at my childhood I think I finally understand why. When you’re a student in elementary school teachers want you to be interested in reading and they tell you that it will make you smarter. Their approach to this is to assign you many readings during your early school years, have your parents sign that you actually did it, and make you write book reports about what you read. I remember when I was a kid I absolutely hated some of these exercises and absolutely loved some of these as well. I distinctly remember being in kindergarten and having to read a book to a high school student. The five year old version of me was more than embarrassed when my reading skills were not up to par and I was having to do it in front of a teenage boy. I also remember being in fifth grade and having to read one book every two weeks and write and draw a report on it. I loved this. Probably because for once I got to choose my own books and they were never assigned for me. I thought of it as a

Reading helps in mental development and is known to stimulate the muscles of the eyes and it is also an activity that involves greater levels of concentration and adds to the conversational skills of the reader.