I interviewed an early childhood teacher about Early
Literacy; I gained so much insight that I think it is going to be my research
topic. I explain to my host teacher that my interest was on Early Literacy
because I notice it is very important for children to get involve in literacy
because when children are expose to literacy, children learn to read, write,
and learn to understand cognitive concepts, that will help them to be good readers.
My host teacher told me that children need to
develop the concepts of listening and comprehension before they move to a
higher level of learning, because if they don’t develop these concepts they
will have problems due to the lack of these skills, so it is very important to
involve children in literacy activities since they are babies or toddlers.
My host teacher shared some issues, she thinks effects
the readings skills of children. One of the problems she sees is that children
do not follow directions when it is time to read, and they move around and they
have difficulty focusing during reading activities, so these children do not
grasp the concepts that will lead them to understand what is being read to
them.
Another problem that she thinks affects the students
is that parents don’t get involved, they don’t have time to read to their
child, or some parents don’t know how to read. Consequently these children’s
reading skills are poor or they don’t have interest in reading activities.
One insight that I gained is that trough literacy
activities children get ready to be good readers when they are in upper school levels,
and that it is very important to get parents involve to do more reading
activities at home.
My second interview was to the librarian, she
explained to me that they have different literacy programs to involve the
families that live in the community. One of the programs is called “English
Language Learner Story Time” This program is for parents and children from
birth through age 5. Through stories, songs, and different activities parents
and children learn and build their English language skills. She also shares
that they visit schools around the neighborhood to talk to the teachers, because
now teachers are also putting more emphasis in teaching History as well as Math
and Reading. So at the library they want to have the appropriate books to
support students that go to the library to look for resources.
An insight that I gained from this interview is that
parents really want to help their children, there are a lot of resources
outside of the school, and we as teachers can redirect them to the right place.
Early literacy is a great topic especially when working with the preschool age children. You have some great ideas but what are your 3 subtopics- what are some issues or ideas regarding early literacy you could research?
ReplyDeleteHello Eloisagil,
ReplyDeleteInterviewing educators about early literacy can be a challenge because of the views that each person has pertaining to the topic. Some teachers will have issues concerning how we teach our children, my concern is finding the child's learning style so that the child can learn at their own pace. With reference to early literacy all children in the classroom may not be learning at the same pace.
We must take each child at their own pace even though the milestones tell us where each child should be developmentally. As professionals we have the task of helping the child to reach the goal concerning early literacy , and of helping them to stay on task with their peers.
I remember as a young child, my parents ordered encyclopedias for my siblings and I. Having those books in my home, when I knew my parents could not afford them, yet they purchased them anyway, cemented the love I had for them even more and their sacrifice gave me a love of literature. Even before I could read, I remember just looking at the pictures. The encyclopedias were so beautiful. One of my goals, at a young age, was to make sure my parents sacrifice was not in vain. Even to this day, I love to read and I know introducing children to books early can make a positive difference in how they feel about literature and how they approach learning.
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