Education And Education : The Importance Of Early Childhood Literacy

The article, Literacy-Rich Environments, by The Access Center, informs the reader on the several ways to create a literacy rich environment for early childhood classrooms. Literacy development needs to be supported from the very beginning of a child’s life. Due to culture, some students will enter school without any prior knowledge of literacy (The Access Center, 2007). It is the duty of the educator to facilitate literacy development, and provide students with an environment full of opportunities to develop literacy skills. This article covers why creating a literacy-rich environment is important, what materials an educator needs in the classroom to create such an environment, and how the educator should arrange the classroom to enhance literacy development (The Access Center, 2007).

It is important to provide young children with an infant and toddler curriculum that stimulates babies’ brains since the first three years of life form the basis for later growth and development (Albrecht & Miller, 2008). Curriculum for this age should be activity-based. There are many different components that make up a quality curriculum. And, each one of these should address a child’s ever-increasing skills and abilities. It is important that teachers address a child’s physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and language areas of development in everyday caregiving routines (Gonzalez-Mena & Eyer, 2015). Most importantly infants and toddlers need opportunities throughout their day that allow them to develop their problem solving skills (Gonzalez-Mena & Eyer, 2015). The support and interactions of adult caregivers are critical to the growth and learning of young children (“Infant/Toddler Curriculum and Individualization,” 2010). Teachers and caregivers can support learning through quality interactions. This helps them get to know their students and allows them to develop a close relationship with each one. As all children learn differently and at their own pace, early child hood educators need to carefully and regularly observe and document what each child is experiencing and how they learn since assessment is a critical part of a high-quality, early childhood program (“Early Childhood Assessment,” 2014).

One of the most important skills to develop in early childhood students is literacy skills to help them as more complex reading happens. In order to develop these strong literacy skills, we give children

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

Learning more about early literacy has made me aware of important literacy skills and ways to correctly incorporate literacy into my classroom. Thinking back to my prior misconceptions of kindergarten classrooms I viewed stations as only play activities for students. I didn’t make the connections between the print that they would be exposed to in the grocery and kitchen area of a play center or the vocabulary that they were building upon through the communication with the other students. Learning more about literacy and how it develops has made me realize the importance of these stations and the importance of the teacher modeling and preparing these stations for the students to ensure they are successfully benefiting from the centers.

As a child I struggled significantly with literacy. Words, letters and sounds made no sense to me and I would marvel over pages filled with lines and squiggles wondering how everyone else saw something I couldn’t see. Words felt like Magic Eye Illusions; if I stared long enough maybe I could see something special there too. It wasn’t long before I was diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia. These diagnoses, and the immediate response from my new educational team, was the safety net that kept me from slipping through the cracks. It was this life event that propelled me towards a career in education.

The purpose and process of teaching literacy to young children should first start off with assessing the child to see what they know and where they need improvement. In addition to give effective literacy instruction in early childcare as an educator you must provide the pre-K and Kindergarten children with developmentally appropriate practices and strategies an environment and conducive setting, materials and tools should be readily assessable. Furthermore by ensuring that the proper tools and materials are assessable it allows the children to have an enhanced experience, and social support that encourage DAP and early forms of reading and writing to assist the children in development and cognition of literacy. There are eight specific useful

In the past decade, the spotlight has been cast on the importance of children attending preschool. This topic has taken part in both political and social debates, where it is questioned if preschool really does benefit a child’s thought processes and ability to grasp on to intellectual concepts at a quicker rate. As a strong supporter of early childhood education, I have taken it upon myself to enforce this idea into the brains of millennials that are prone to believe that early childhood education is an unnecessary and an expensive luxury. Despite the sudden rise in people that belittle the importance of early childhood education in our society, I have committed my life to supporting and educating children being that they are our most valuable resource. Choosing to become both an early childhood educator and advocating that preschool become a requirement for all American children has allowed me to combine my love for children and education into a profession that will both benefit society and allow me to lead a life I am content with.

As the educational system moves forward, more consideration is being placed on the importance of literacy in early education to better prepare them for higher rates of success in school. Therefore, teachers must have an understanding of the significance of adolescent and childhood development which would aid teachers to effectively develop the appropriate educational activities, which supports both the changing curriculum and assuring that the educational activities of the class corresponds with the capabilities of all the students.

"It's important for practitioners to know about the biological, social and cultural development of children and the subject knowledge of what is involved in literacy, so that they can learn how to put the two together to help children learn to read and write." (Reardon, 2009)

This article present a case about a boy who born 6 weeks early, for that reason the pediatrician told the mother that the boy won’t develop as other children. There were some delays in the first year but his language doesn’t show signs of impairment. His parents help him to develop as a normal child. Since he was born he used to read multiple times, in the 1 year he already had favorite books and good working vocabulary. At the age of two he started using technology to communicate with family and grandparents while they were overseas for a time. At the age of three his parents help him to write. And at age of four he asked about school and when he would be able to go. His parents look for information about different schools and how the schools work, and they knew that children go to school with a variety of literacies experiences.

From the moment a child is born, they are surrounded by countless sources of influence that help construct and develop a child’s oral language skills, print concept, phonics skills, and more. There are many different influences in a child’s life that could influence them such as, their culture, their family, their parents, and their environments. However, one of the most important influences that help construct and develop the child’s literacy skills is what the child learns at

Many students also have limited access to literacy skills at home, poor vocabularies, poor oral fluency, and often come from low socioeconomic backgrounds (Yesil-Dagli, 2011). In the past there was not a lot of emphasis on the pre-kindergarten years. Today, experts recognize the first five years of a child’s life as a time for enormous growth of linguistic, conceptual, and social competence (Pikulski, 2005). Yesli-Dagil (2011) found that the majority of research on literacy skills has been done with non-English language student populations or populations that had English language learners involved but there was no differentiation between the two groups. This research was then generalized to the English language student population, not taking into account that they may learn differently.

Recent research conducted by neurologists seemingly allude that early childhood education presents a vital role in developing a child’s brain. Children are majorly expected to attend this stage of education at the age of 6years where they receive quality care at a specified age before joining the next stage (AL-Othman, Gregory, Jessel & Khalil, 2015). In most countries, pre-kindergarten education which is also early childhood education is perceived as a necessary stage of learning for every child. Countries such as the US recognize early childhood education as both significant and mandatory education stages since the enactment of the California legislature in 2006. Seemingly, researchers connote that children who undergo early childhood development exhibit a higher IQ compared to those who fail to attend (AL-Othman, Gregory, Jessel & Khalil, 2015). Furthermore, other studies articulate that pre-kindergarten studies enhance their behaviors and further increases their level of understanding in other stages of learning compared to those who do fail in undertaking such programs. Notably, it’s true to attest to the fact that the benefits of introducing a child to pre-kindergarten stage affably outweighs the negative impacts perceived (“Importance of Early Childhood Education", 2017). Some other benefits involved in early childhood development are further expounded below

When children are involved in the process of reading in a variety of ways, it broadens their knowledge, strengthens their skills, and builds their confidence. As educators, caregivers, and parents, we can have a tremendous impact on children’s early literacy experiences. Knowing several strategies for sharing literature with them gives us valuable tools with which we can help them tackle the work of reading. As a result, we have the power to transform it into an enjoyable experience children can enjoy throughout their lives.