Supporting literacy in the very young

Thinking about kids learning language is so exciting to me. I fondly reminisce about my children at those stages. Then again, it's amazing to hear any baby saying new words or putting words together to communicate or beginning to recognize signs or symbols. It's hard for me to imagine children who don't have encouragement at home to continue to speak or learn about the environment around them. Perhaps caregivers are too busy working to make ends meet, or they don't know the value of these early experiences. These children eventually go to school and are already at a severe language deficit, one that can often never be made up. (Hart and Risley, 1995) I'm sure you've met many of them in your classrooms. Some children don't even have a book in their homes. Another study found that the number of books in the home had as much effect on a child's literacy as the parents' level of education. In other words, parents with less education with a great number of books at home could give their children the same boost in literacy as parents with college educations. (Evans, M.D.R., et al, 2007) 

That's why I'm a huge supporter of the Head Start and Early Head Start programs. I think Universal Pre-K is a worthy investment our country should make. There are also some great non-profits that target this very situation. Reach Out and Read is an innovative organization that partners with health-care providers to promote literacy from the pediatrician's office. First Book helps supply books to low-income families.

But what can we do in our own busy professional lives? We can encourage any programs in our schools that promote family education. Some schools have partnered with their communities to link volunteer readers with their students. When more families understand the value of speaking to their children, reading to them, and providing them with books, we help bridge that literacy gap. Another great idea is giving books as birthday gifts or prizes to students. An organization such as Donors Choose may be able to help fund your effort. Maybe some of your students would qualify for books from First Book. Perhaps you could ask your pediatrician if he/she knows about Reach Out and Read. 

Sorry to get on my soapbox. I just get so excited about kids reading and then I get so frustrated when I think of the barriers some kids face, through no fault of their own. I'll post links for you to explore it more yourself. Let me know what you think--maybe we can join forces!

After several years of teaching and developing curriculum for educational publishers, I'm excited to be jumping into the MS Ed program in reading at JHU. I look forward to learning more about the process of reading, literacy development in children, and how to more effectively teach reading at all ages and stages. I'll be sharing my thoughts here as I go through the program, beginning with my class on emergent literacy. I'd really appreciate hearing your thoughts as well. It's a privilege to be in a community of learners with all of you.