EXPERIENCES SUPPORT EMERGENT LITERACY (under the topic, Fostering Emergent Literacy)

Experiences Support Emergent Literacy

Children and adults need to bring meaning to the page in order to get meaning from that printed page

Written words can extend our understandings , but they must build on an existing understanding

Children need to build on personal experience in their encounters with written and oral language

Children are much less able than adults to conceptualize ideas from mere words When youngsters manipulate or interact with real objects, they begin to develop concepts

Fact vs. Concept

Fact:

- Leaves turn bright colors in the fall

Concept:

- The concept of leaves turning color involves an understanding of the cycle of seasons and their relationship to regeneration in nature

Fact

- part of a concept- memorization- Does not imply understanding - An adult can tell child facts, and the child can memorize and repeat them. However, this

performance does not imply understanding or necessarily involve thought.

Concept

- Broader- Understanding- Requires thought

This type of thought can occur only through first-hand experiences and observations

Ex: Betsy has to pour the water from one container to others over and over, on many different occasions, before she can understand that water will conform to the shape of its container or that a short, wide container can hold the same amount as a tall, narrow one.

Implications

Shortcut approaches to teaching is a no-no

Do not substitute second hand experiences (passive) for first hand ones (active learning mode) to speed up the learning experiences

Some adults think that children have learned a great deal in a short time. However, knowing specific words and understanding what they represent are NOT necessarily the same thing.

This type of shortcut teaching causes children to rely on adults rather than to think for themselves. In a world with ever-changing facts and various views of truth, children must learn to think for themselves.

Why Expose, Explore, and Experience?

They expand their vocabulary with meaningful words related to their experiences

They have experiences to think about, talk about, and write about

They can relate personally to what others write about similar experiences

They learn to “read” people’s moods from their expressions

They expand their vocabulary with meaningful words related to their experiences

They learn to read printed symbols with which they have had experience

They learn to “read” the weather from the color of the sky

Tips!

Home Experiences

Make your home ideal for learning

Playpen

Helping with Chores can be a source of learning experience

- A six year-old can help a toddler get dressed - Kids can sort and mate socks when laundry is folded - A child can help in unpacking groceries - Children get to help in cooking at some time

Consider a Yard with

- Grass to run barefoot in- Dirt to dig in - Paved area for riding tricycle - Fruit trees. Kids are allowed to pick the fruit when it’s ripe and eat it when it is washed. - Vegetable garden where kids can pull tender young carrots when they are mature

- Pets- On warm days, children add the delightful sensory experience of water play when they get to fill

the plastic swimming pool.

Family Activities

- Much of children’s experience occurs before preschool age, and once children enter school, much of their experiences continues to occur

- Road trip. Along the way, they see bridges, and trains. They get to watch the planes land at the airport.

- Children can visit the grocery store, fabric store, and hardware store- Children learn to identify products on the shelved and vegetables in display - Provide the children with meaningful experiences- The younger ones watch as their mother writes the grocery list and they suggest items to

include- The school-age children check the refrigerator daily to decide whether to pack a lunch or buy at

school

School Experiences - Plan experiences to help young students find some answers to their constant questions of Why.- Children must learn through all their senses and not just through hearing. - Make sure that students regularly have new, stimulating experiences.

Planning Outings

- Plan excursions well in advance- Visit the site- Keep guides from trying to explain too much. Kids will learn a little now and more later.- Try to keep outings under one hour- Think about the purpose of each field trip - Try to vary the purposes as well as the places- Consider small group approach to field trips (more adequate discussions)

Places to consider

- Bakery and construction sites where kids learn about processes- Television or radio station where kids learn behind the scene activities- Science excursions for studying nature- Grocery and restaurant- Take a trip just for the enjoyment of having an adventure, smelling growing things, and feeling

the breeze

Reference:

Fields, Marjorie, et al. (1991). Let’s Begin Reading Right. NY: Macmillan Publishing Company