I interacted with the ECE Teacher and the director at Head Start. I asked the director about how they incorporate literacy in thier classroom. She said that they have writing utensils in every center. They also read to the children and allow free time with the books too. I asked her about parent involvement and she said that they send home activites for the parents to do with their children and have them sign and return it to the teacher. The director also showed me their word wall and for each letter they have the children's names under them to go along with the first letter of their name. They also have many words under each letter to help the children identify sounds and words associated with the differnt letters.
I also got to talk to the speech therapist that comes and gets some of the children to work on thier speech. I asked her how she was able to help the children with thier speech. She said they read and draw and just talk about the pictures and she tries to find something they are interested in such as trains to get them to talk more. She talked about the improvement that takes place during one school year and often the children are able to get out of speech because they are able to speak more clearly and no longer need the extra help. I enjoyed spending time in the classroom and also speaking with the speech therapist.
Sounds like this program has a lot of activates in the classroom that promote optimal development as well as are developmentally appropriate. I did have a question however about the parent involvement and how the parents are able to check out activities with their children. I have always thought this would be great opportunity to provide parents in my daycare center. Is this in the library or school office? Did you get to see what the activities were like books or educational games? Do the parents use this resource regularly?
ReplyDeleteI also work in a Head Start classroom and incorporating literacy in every aspect of the day is a big focus for us. We start each day by having our students sign in. At the beginning of the year most kids start by tracing the letters in their name and then, when we feel they are ready, they write their name on their own. We also have whiteboards with dry erase makers in every center for our students to write on. Having the environment labeled is another way to incorporate literacy into your classroom. This year we used Spanish and English labels in our classroom. I think one of the most helpful literacy tools we use is the kids name cards with their picture on it. We have multiple copies at various centers, which allows the students to learn and write their fellow classmates names. At the end of this year most students could recognize their classmates' names.
ReplyDeleteMandy:
ReplyDeleteEarly Literacy is the area that I'm doing research in as well. I have a few questions, where you may be able to give some insight. Was the speech therapist on staff there, or was she a consultant? Based upon your contacts and experiences with others, has this made a difference?
Also I noticed you mentioned that she talked about the improvement that takes place during the school year, which often results in children being released from speech therapy because they can speak more clearly. Conversely, however, I'm wondering about the experiences when children do not make such progress, and age out of this therapy at age 3. Did she give you any indication of what happens then? How are children supported after that? Historically, how does the time lag affect the progress that is made by the child??
We also do those things in our classroom and it is very helpful. Creative curriculum only requires one writing center but we actually have two in two different parts of the room with some of the same and different materials. We also have writing materials in every area as well. We have a word wall across the low cupboards in our room with the children's names under the letter of the alphabet their name starts with. We also have various file folder games and clothes pin games I made for literacy skills for various levels of development. I also made a magnet game on a cookie sheet with our ZooPhonics animals on it for children to match or name words with. Another aspect of literacy all preschools should have is labeling their interest areas and materials. We also have little blanks books we made (folded paper stapled at the fold) in the writing centers for children to write their own books. And we have journals for the children to write in.
ReplyDeleteDid the administrator explain why they had a writing center in an early childhood center? What is the importance of teaching writing at such a young age. Do they have libraries in each of the classrooms?
ReplyDelete