YOUR VOICE IS IMPORTANT!

Calling all professional early childhood teachers - you have important information about how children develop.  Don't hide that under a bushel basket; share it with parents, and fellow educators!

WHY YOUR VOICE IS IMPORTANT

Recently I was speaking to a group of parents (most very highly educated) about their 4-5 year old children and the big "learn to read" event coming within a year or two for most of their children.  It was amazing to me that the science I know was foreign to them. 

For instance, did you know that, within a few 1,000 brain cells, every child (unless there is a major developmental issue) comes into this world with out 100 Billion brain cells?

Do you know how they grow?  Check out Child Care Aware!

The type of talk young children hear is very important to their later reading abilities and how easily they will learn to read?  View Dr. David Dickenson's Powerpoint and check out his research below:

The art of reading aloud to children is going away and we're not doing an adequate job of helping parents understand its important.  Instead of "wagging and nagging", let's try a different approach (plenty of modeling, facts that are meaningful to families, and a warm, caring approach. 

Literacy is my thing but you can probably list all kinds of information you need to be sharing in the areas of emotional/social development, motor skills, concepts and counting, etc.  Get those conversations started and share what you are learning through those and the successes you have had with families when you share your knowledge.  I'd love to hear!

THREE BIG IDEAS

Getting children ready for kindergarten is on the front burner these days. When it comes to literacy, what's the best way to "bring those children to the door"? It isn't with flashcards, flashy computer games or worksheets. It takes an integrated approach to three big ideas:

Oral language - Our speech and how we use our words is the foundation for how we understand what we read. Rich conversations about the child's immediate world and the world beyond, engaging in frequent chats, exploring new words are all a part of this foundation. Stay off the "regimented" channel.

Exploring books together. I don't often use the term "reading aloud to children" anymore because it seems to draw up images of a circle of children all sitting passively and quietly while the teacher reads an entire story from beginning to end or an individual parent or teacher "shushing" a child into quiet submission. Occasionally, if the language is rhythmic and musical and has great power, just listening to a story is OK. But most of the time it needs to look more like the entire group up to their eyeballs in thick rich meaning, interacting with the text. That's how children get the message of what reading is all about. The technique is called Engaged Interactive Read Aloud.

Playing with the language and its patterns. I underscore the word "play" because too often I see preschool teachers believing that structured lessons like those in first grade and kindergarten work for young children. They don't. You can teach children to "parrot" that way but you cannot teach what is essential - concepts. For that, children need to have concrete connections, integrated introductions, full of games and playful experiences with rhymes, alliteration, the movement and flow of the language. So sing, and have fun manipulating the language and talking about words apart from their meaning; don't make it a drill.

Want to know more? Check out sample activities from my new book, Before They Read, from Maupin House.

How do you focus on these three big ideas in your preschool environment? How do you keep the instruction developmentally appropriate while taking children as far as they are ready to go? Everyone will benefit from comments and dialogue!

A Must Resource for Preschool Teachers: NAEYC

ATTENTION ALL PRESCHOOL and CHILDCARE PROVIDERS,

If you don't know NAEYC (the National Association for the Education of Young Children), check it out. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children, with particular focus on the quality of educational and developmental services for all children from birth through age 8.

What's in it for me?

That means in plain terms that they have a lot of resources for you. There are free professional development guides, online articles to read (there's currently a great article on real-life writing in the classroom -- did you know that there are developmental stages of writing?), information about accreditation of programs and support for continuing education for teachers, and much, much more. Most of all, it gives preschool educators a place to practice their professionalism and share their knowledge while continually learning themselves.

The Literacy Ambassador® is coming to NAEYC's Washington DC Conference 11/19-20

This year I am privileged to be traveling to Washington DC (next week) for their annual conference, representing my company, TLA, Inc, by presenting on Engaging Families in Their Child's Emergent Literacy with a Goal of School Readiness (2:00-3:30PM on Thursday, Nov 20).  My new books for preschool/K teachers and for parents of preschool children is being released soon and I'm hoping to be able to share them at this conference (if I find a vendor and we can get the books to them in time.  My publisher is working on that but if you are a bookseller exhibiting at NAEYC's conference, give me a shout out!)  Regardless, if you are attending NAEYC, join me!

Maybe you can't make the trip to Washington?

Here are a few great websites to help you on your way as an early childhood educator:

Educationworld.com's Early Childhood Web Resources

Early Childhood.com

PBS Raising Readers

Which resources do you have to grow your professional approach to teaching preschool children? I'd love to hear about them and I'm sure others would too!

Teaching Vocabulary

It's easy to think that having children say the definitions of words over and over is the best way to learn. Absolutely not in preschool especially. So how do we help young children grow vocabulary? Here are two ideas:

1) recognize that your everyday conversations are a primary source for growing vocabulary. Talk with your children throughout the day, during read aloud time, at lunch, outside. No preschool teacher should be at her desk or standing to the side during center or free play time.

Get down on the children's level and inquire, investigate, draw in those words from your read aloud that may be new to your children. When you teach on themes, this is easy. Have a new word to celebrate each day or each week and use it often, in different circumstances and contexts.

Don't be afraid to use big words with them. But use them as naturally as you are able. Even if you aren't used to talking that way, be purposeful in your use of those words with them. Connect them to synonyms that your children already know. I love Ogden Nash's Adventures of Isabelle because in the midst of teaching children to be confident, he uses great words like "cavernous" and "ravenous". Here are a few other titles that are excellent for growing vocabulary (did you know you can do that, even if there are few or no words?). You'll be able to find a complete list of such titles to build conversation in my upcoming book for teachers, Before They Read: Language and Literacy Development Through Conversations, Interactive Read-alouds and Listening Games (to be released in November, 2009). Here's a taste, but stay tuned!

Actual Size by Steve Jenkins
Bear Snores On (and other books by Karma Wilson)
Dear Zoo: A Lift-the-Flap Book by Rod Campbell
Fuzzy, Fuzzy, Fuzzy by Sarah Boynton
I Like Black and White by Barbara Jean Hicks

2) Share those same words with your families that you use during the day so they can talk about those big (and not so big) interesting words too and use them in conversations with their children. Do you know what "decontextualized" language is? That's speaking in the future or past tense, rather than just the here and now. Talking in that way not only encourages vocabulary but also more abstract thinking skills. You may already do that when you talk in circle time about what the children had for breakfast or plan together what you will do later in the day. Be sure to remember to send those books with great vocabulary home so the children can explore them with Mom or Dad, big brother, Grandma or a neighbor.

Oral language is the basis for written language. When your preschool children are ready to learn to read conventionally (either before or after they go to kindergarten -- either might be normal for them), their strong vocabulary will make reading easier. They'll listen to the word as they sound it out and blend it, it connects to that word they know in their oral language and BAM! they've got it. Ask thinking questions to expand their language; use scientific terms like "document" instead of "write down" or "experiment" instead of "try it out." With a little thought, you'll have a great impact!

Storytelling in Preschool

Today I received an inquiry from an author who wanted to talk about storytelling and its impact on literacy in preschoolers. What a great topic!

Anyone can tell a story. Young children's oral language development, vocabulary and their ability to communicate with confidence grow during the preschool years more than any other time in their lives. Tap into the natural opportunities in your classroom to encourage this skill of storytelling. Here are a couple of ideas that you can use in the classroom tomorrow:

1) Especially if you work with 2-3 year old children, you hear often "read that story again!" Children are learning about the structure of stories, that there is a beginning, middle and end, as they listen to familiar books. They are also learning how just the right word choice makes a story lively and communicates what they feel. Place a few props (felt or laminated pieces representing the main characters in a story, or objects that appear in the story) to help children remember the proper sequence in the story as they retell it in your "book nook" or storytelling center. Incorporate that into circle time where the children are actively engaged in helping tell a familiar story when you prompt with "what happens next?"

2) Busy parents need ideas for how to encourage their children's growing literacy and storytelling is one of the best. Our children love to hear about the day they were born, their mom or dad's life when they were a child, etc. First ask them to share a few of those stories with their children, taking time to elaborate and give good details. I still remember stories from my childhood like that. It also gives children a sense of belonging and personal history. Also remind families that letting their child tell stories (the one they heard in the family or one from school) help children learn to use our language effectively. They will also learn incredible things about their children when they listen. Teach your parents how to expand on what their children are saying, reflect back to them and ask for more!

3) Model good storytelling. To do that, you need to watch some great storytellers in action. There are storytelling festivals all over the country. In my own neck of the woods, there's an annual Athens (AL) Storytelling Festival with lots of different styles (funny, entertaining, sentimental, and thought-provoking). Check out the storytelling festivals in Jonesboro TN (The International Storytelling Festival), Three Rivers in Pittsburg, PA or The Toe River festival in my own native state North Carolina.

Don't forget that children tell stories when they talk about what they are doing in centers during free play time. Expand on what they say, encourage them to share through language and create great stories there too (a few of which you can take down in dictation and share with the world!)

Enjoy the story!