Helping Children Read and Write

"There is no simple answer to helping children to read and write....  Young children need lots of exposure to oral language and print material.  They need to have the self-confidence to explore new ideas and feel the pleasure and excitement of listening and telling stories, the intimacy of sharing, the joy of learning."

This is the advice from Joan Lombardi in her Exchange article, "Promoting Language, Literacy, and a Love of Learning Makes a Difference," which is one of the course readings for the Exchange CEU, "Literacy in the Early Years."  She continues...

"During the infant and toddler years, children need relationships with caring adults who engage in many one-on-one, face-to-face interactions with them to support their oral language development and lay the foundation for later literacy.  During the preschool years, young children need a wide range of developmentally appropriate experiences to support literacy, including — but not limited to — positive, nurturing relationships with adults who engage in responsive conversations with individual children.  Child care providers need to model reading and writing behavior and foster children's interest in and enjoyment of reading and writing through exposure to a print-rich environment and daily adult reading of high-quality books.

"The same good practices should continue throughout the early school years.  For school-age child care programs, children need quality programs with a consistent adult to talk to and to listen.  They need environments that can stimulate their curiosity and promote physical activity, as well as provide ample opportunities to enjoy reading and writing, to express their creativity and to receive individual assistance with homework and skill building activities that go on during the regular school day."

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