Early Childhood Literacy Development

Literacy is most commonly understood as reading and writing. But before children can read and write, they need to learn about sound, words, language, books and stories (Raising Children, 2015). Children begin to develop and gain knowledge quite differently and with support and developmentally appropriate learning skills children will also come to understand the connection between letters and sounds. Literacy development or early literacy is the most essential in the first three years of life as it the earliest experience children have with language, sound and the positive interactions between child and adult. Vygotsky (1978) believed in how children developed, and the important role of adults in leading child’s early development. The interactions

that young children have with such literacy materials as books, paper, crayons and adults in their lives are the building blocks for reading and writing development as well as brain development (Zero to Three, 2003).

I believe as an educator that the exposure to early years of literacy laid the foundation for children’s future literacy success and by using teaching skills and ideas to help the child along I can provided a literacy rich experience to better the children’s development.

In doing so I had chosen two activities based on the learning domain literacy, the first resource exposes the child to blocks and the second was an alphabetic sensory table, both of theses resources provided the basic understanding of how literacy can develop from play based learning. Blocks can be placed in any part of the early childhood setting either indoors or outdoor play spaces, however the sensory table can be used in any indoor play space area. As educators we all know that the first few years of any child’s life is essential to their learning, development and growth, and with theses activities we can give new meaning to the interactions young children have towards language, communication and their

learning.

Playing with blocks is a classical and timeless play material that has endured countless theories and ideologies of child development. Introducing blocks to children from 6 months and above can have a significant benefit as it helps babies learn how to talk as well as help them being to develop other developmental skills, according to Dr Christakis (cited in Wood, 2015) “ block play is fun, and it is now evident that it promotes development too”. Blocks can encourage a child to not only play but to also improve and enhance his or her social, emotional, physical and cognitive skills as well as encourage children as they get older to use it to do problem solving, symbolic thinking, spatial skills, construction and social dramatic play opportunities. As an infant blocks can strengthen the way they hold and manipulate the use of their hand, placing the blocks in their mouth they know the physical properties of the object, dropping blocks shows them the lesson on gravity and the cause and effect of knocking down a stack of blocks. When first introducing blocks to toddlers they use their per-existing knowledge that they have used as infants to expand their movement and thinking into have a better grip when holding, exploring the different colours, feeling how heavy or light different blocks feel, listen to the sound of blocks when they fall or when its banged together or against other objects and having the balance to be able to carry the blocks around.

There is no shortcoming to the design and application of blocks as it can be used through all ages and development, however as an educator I need to be aware when meeting the scale for how big blocks should be for infants and how I can go up in either size and shape as the child gets older. There is also no limitation as to how blocks can be used during play, as all I need is to set it up in an area that is free from other distractions and traffic. All theses different types of blocks that can be used between the age group of 0-3 years are lightweight hollow brick blocks, fabric blocks, hard and soft plastic, homemade blocks, wooden and foam blocks and cardboard blocks. Through this resource children begin to develop their own schema and it beings develops as the child gets older, according to Piaget (1952 cited in McLeod, 2009) who called schema as the basic building blocks of intelligent behaviour- a way of organising knowledge. As children involve themselves in block play they being to develop schemas such as transporting, enclosure, trajectory, connection and positioning all such concepts happens when learning of size, object comparison, receptive language being used by educators such as soft, hard, yellow, blue, pink, pick up, stack etc. can contribute to children developing the knowledge needed.

As educators we need to be aware of children’s cultural perspectives and how it is important when it comes to play and how we could use play as a means of promoting cultural awareness. By involving children with block play and introducing them to multicultural block people they are beginning to connect to not only themselves but to other children from different cultures. Rettig, (n.d) explains that the games children play and the play things they use in play are often tied to the culture in which they live and provide a way for children to practice skills. Play then, serves an important role in enculturation.

From the time children are born they are surrounded with an environment of print rich words, infants learn from playing with toys and books that are read to them, however they do not notice that they are printed words around them.

For toddlers it is a learning process and the first thing they learn about print is through their sight (Cowling, 2012). As an educator we can initiate children in early literacy experiences through conversations and play. Early literacy experiences can include a range and diverse activities such play as an alphabetic sensory table that will make connections to letter recognition, writing and reading and many other pathways of literacy. By putting together a sensory table the children have fun and it involves hands on way for them to become exposed to letters. This resources involves foam shaped letters, a sensory table and some containers and scoops, the short coming of this design and application is the fact that as an educator I do not expect toddlers to know the alphabet, however by exposing them to letters early on through play, I can show them that theses letters having meaning and as they get older, not only can they recognise the letters in their names, but also names of their peers and family

members.

Literacy skills start of in a child’s early years of development from infants using their vocal sounds to toddlers use symbols in different activities. As an educator it is important to be aware that before a child can read or write, they need to become familiar with concepts of letter recognition. The only limitation to such an activity would be for the babies, as the letters used are too small and soft, however this can be overcome by having larger foam letter mats placed on the floor it not only benefits babies but toddlers as well who are slowly beginning to learn about letters and as an educator teaching children of any age is the overall goal. Having a sensory table guarantees that children not only develop their literacy skills, but successfully use other developmental skills that will benefit his or her knowledge of the world.

Through daily exposure to a print-rich environment, interactions and materials such as the foam letter sensory table, this activity can enhance children’s learning as they use their fine motor skills and fingers to trace the letter they are holding, educators according to Vygotsky (1978) can support a child’s greater understanding of the concept through vocal and visual recognition of the letter (example: once a child has picked a letter, point and say what the letter sounds like) this process can be repeated until the child is able to recognise the letter by his or her self. Educators can further enhance a toddlers development by watching the child play with alphabet letters, while singing the ABC song, this helps them familiarise his or her appearance of the letters (CELL, 2010). As children involve themselves in the alphabetic sensory table they being to develop schemas such as transporting, trajectory and positioning.

As educators we know how early literacy development for children is closely tied between the child’s relationship and activates