Whole Child Development
It seems the older I get, the more I realize the importance of moderation. Over and over again, I find that answers lie in between dogmatic extremes. Perhaps nowhere is this realization more important than when considering approaches to early literacy.
Robert Munsch grew up in Pennsylvania, in a big family with nine kids. Well, to be more accurate, Munsch specifies that he lived in Pennsylvania when he was young, and that he never really did grow up at all. The prolific author struggled through most of his schooling, but always had a passion for writing. He particularly enjoyed writing poetry, both the serious and silly varieties. But writing was his past time, not something he, or anyone else, really valued at the time.
Fast forward a few decades, and you find Robert Munsch working in day cares and preschools, captivating children with his storytelling. On his official website, Munsch recalls, “For ten years I did this without thinking I had any special skill. After all, while I made the best stories in the daycare centre, most of the other teachers made better play doh. I eventually got a long list of stories I told, but I never wrote them down.”
I was just re-reading this old article from a 2005 issue NAEYC’s Young Child magazine, written by Susan Neuman and Kathleen Roskos, leading researchers in the field of early literacy. The emphasis of the article was on the importance of creating meaningful experiences through which children can truly engage in the process of acquiring early literacy skills. In reference to the 1998 joint position statement created by NAEYC and the International Reading Association outlining developmentally appropriate practice in literacy instruction, the authors write:
If you’re exploring a transportation theme, here’s a fun little ditty about transportation I found years ago. (I didn’t write down where I found it, so if you know the original author let me know!) It’s a fun piggy-back song, to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle:
I feel I need to confess my addiction. I am a bibliomaniac. In spite of the fact that I have a library card, which gives me access to plenty of wonderful books, and which I enjoy using regularly, I still find the need to OWN them. I just love books! It doesn’t help that my husband feels the same way. Who’s going to put on the brakes?
I wrote a while back about a sign-in chart that provides regular practice for name-writing while also providing a record-keeping system to track progress. Some children really thrive with this method — they’ve recently figured out that they OWN their name, and they want to write it everywhere! Others however, are more reluctant. “I already did that,” they may say. Like the parent who’s constantly cleaning the same kitchen, the child wonders, “Why am I doing this again? I did it yesterday!” Sometimes all a child needs is more purpose for the writing. Writing it today so they can write it again tomorrow just doesn’t always cut it. Here are some ways you can encourage reluctant writers to leave their mark. [Read more…]
My oldest son began kindergarten this year. He is enjoying all of the “big-kid” perks of going to school like riding the bus and having recess. But he’s also discovered that school also comes with responsibilities. Not least of which is a list of skills to be practiced as homework, including several penmanship tasks like drawing shapes and writing letters, numbers, and his first and last name. I don’t think my guy is the first child to react as though writing practice were akin to being kidnapped by terrorists, but there is at least one way I’ve found to get around this response. Make it fun and exciting! [Read more…]
It’s no secret: I love to discover a great new children’s book. While Max’s Words by Katie Banks is not actually a “new” book (it was published in 2006), it is “new to me” and I’m so glad I found it!
Content Copyrighted (2008-2025), Amanda Morgan, All Rights Reserved
