READING IN THE EARLY CHILDHOOD YEARS

 

 

 

 

I  BACKGROUND

 

Objective of the preschool and the teacher

 

The main goal is to provide children with the opportunity to acquire the proper tools and disposition for becoming a future reader and to sensitize the children to various forms of writing.

 

 

Role of the teacher

 

·         The teacher needs to encourage each child to enjoy the library area,

 

·         To accustom the children to books, poems, songs, charts,  posters and all forms of writing.

 

·         To help each child recognize the different functions of writing.

 

·         To nourish each child's imagination by stories, poems, etc.

 

·         Respect each child's potential and speed.

 

 

 

Means and tools to achieve reading objectives

 

The following activities are integrated in the classroom experiences.  They contribute , in various forms to the development of aptitudes necessary for becoming an eventual reader.

 

 

1.   LANGUAGE

·         Express oneself clearly

 

·         Socialize harmoniously

 

 

Some means of achieving this objective:

Children :

 

·         Observe and communicate clearly

 

·         Describe pictures

 

·         Recount a story related to a drawing

 

·         Describe in correct sequence a past experience, a story

 

·         Appropriate answers to questions

 

 

 

2.   MOTOR COORDINATION

 

·         Able to respond to "under", "above", "around", "in", etc.

·         Lateral movement ( right, left)

·         Chronology (before, after, during, now….)

·         Comparisons (as much as, more than, less than)

 

Some means of achieving this objective:

 

·         Relate an experience chronologically

·         Compare constructions (legos, blocks, ); compare various objects (size, shape,

      categories, numbers.

·         Mazes -  Following directions and alternative routes when playing moving games, Simon says, placing shapes on the floor and asking the children to follow a trail, etc..

·         Move well in space. ( with balance, not clumsily)

·         Manual and writing readiness activities such as beading, building with small legos,

      drawing, collage, cutting on a line, color within a line, puzzles and all sorts of

      manipulative toys and games.

 

 

3.   VISUAL  AND AUDITORY APTITUDES

 

·         Training the ear to listen

·         Training the eyes to observe

·         Training children to remember what they see

·         Training the eyes to "read" speedily

 

Some means of achieving these aptitudes

 

·         Recognition of sounds, rhymes, word patterns (bat, cat,  fat, hat mat, pat, rat, sat OR lock, rock, sock OR bug, hug, mug, rug   etc..)  phonemes (spin, pin, tip), assonance (vowel sounds are alike but consonants are not necessarily alike as in: make,  late, stare)

 

·         Music classes

 

 

·         Refine visual perceptive skills by learning to recognize and identify colors, shapes ,

solving puzzles.

 

·         Match, sort by colors, by categories, classify (what goes with what? For example, the bird and the nest), compare sizes,  sequence (What happened first?), identify similarities and differences.

 

·         Identify the "weirdo" or intruder in a category (For example, in a category of 3 plastic

      cats and 1 button, which one does not belong here?)

 

·         Identify printed words that are the same in a category.

 

 

·         Reproduce a model or sequence (For example, 3 blue beads, followed by one red bead.  Can be played with legos, unifix cubes, pegs on pegboard.

 

·         Play "What's in the mystery box?"  or "Photo mystery"  (Show part of a picture and let children guess the picture (1/2 a pizza pie, the eyes of a cat, the head of a snowman, etc.)

 

·         Big and little puzzle sets, opposites puzzle sets, before and after puzzle sets.

 

·         Alphabet match board.

 

 

4.  THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOGIC AND COMPREHENSION

 

·         Problem solving  and more classification games "What goes with what?" games such as matching seasons to types of clothing worn in New York;  matching tools such as paint with paint brush. Comb with hair, hat with head, apple with apple tree, sock with shoe or foot,  toothpaste with toothbrush, etc.

 

·         Sequence images or a story

 

·         Complete a story or picture

 

 

5.   BECOMING AWARE OF SYMBOLS (Words have meanings)

 

·         Decipher a message  using signs such as  a  "STOP" sign means what?"

Using the calendar daily, labeling every area and article in the classroom

 

·         Decipher a recipe

 

·         Using experience charts and picture codes have children "read" a story or decode a message.

 

·         Have children illustrate their own stories.

 

 

 

 

 

6.   BECOMING FAMILIAR WITH THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN

 

·         Discover books, the calendar, snack menu,  cards,  posters, newspapers, magazines, recipes, cereal boxes, signs, labels, etc…..

 

·         Take a walk around the class, around the school, in the neighborhood look at the various posters , hand washing signs, Fire exit, labeled paintings and  drawings, announcements, street signs, names of stores…. Help children become aware that the printed word has meaning (a name, a message, etc.)

 

·         Create an appealing class library.

 

 

7.   WHAT CAN I READ ?

 

Communication in the classroom:

 

·         Attendance board

 

·         Snack menu

 

·         Board/Poster of class responsibilities

 

·         Board/Poster of class activities open on a particular day/week

 

·         Daily Schedule of class

 

·         Class rules

 

·         Informative posters for parents

 

·         Labeling of each area and materials

 

 

Communication with families

 

·         Workbook on "My life at school"

 

·         Song and poetry books

 

·         Workbooks of children's drawings with their own stories

 

·         Invitations to class parties

 

·         Correspondence and documentation regarding class events

 

·         Experience charts of trips and class events.