A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

SUMMARY WORKSHOPS

Workshop A
Literacy Development During the Preschool Years

Speaker:
Catherine E. Snow, Chair of the Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children

Henry Lee Shattuck, Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Moderator:
Naomi Karp, Director, National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education

Abstract:
Good programs that educate the early childhood work force should include opportunities that require teachers to: (1) Provide a range of rich experiences that build large vocabularies and foster reasoning skills; (2) Create activities that help children develop the abilities to name assorted objects, learn about relationships and abstract terms and learn how to differentiate between and among meanings of words; (3) Nurture children’s listening comprehension skills; (4) Foster young children’s sense of stories and their sensitivity to the sounds of language; (5) Make children aware of print and written language; (6) Teach the concepts of space and directionality; and (7) Involve children in activities that develop fine motor skills.

In this workshop, participants will learn how to provide young children with enriching experiences that build strong foundations for language, literacy, and later reading successes. Dr. Snow will synthesize discussions pertaining to community literacy efforts, methods that lead to early identification of young children with special language and literacy needs, strategies that early childhood caregivers use to build language and literacy skills, and how adult and family literacy impact on young children's literacy. Participants will leave with ideas for improving programs and early childhood environments in their communities.

Notes

Recap of Workshops 1,3, and 4 - Issues Discussed

Workshop 3, Promoting Language and Literacy Growth: Early Childcare and Education
Barbara Bowman

• Individual and group risk factors
• Parent education
• Diversity
• Invest training in early childhood workers who will stay

Workshop 1, Public Understanding of Early Literacy Development
Kate Dowling

• Use of media to get messages out
• Partnerships with everyone in the community
• Work through pediatricians

Workshop 4, Promoting Language and Literacy Growth: Family Literacy
Dr. Mumford, Dr Hayes, and Mr. Bubenik

• The need to target populations and have specific measures designed for them.
• Families working together - parents and children
• Diversity of population being served
  Diversity of parent needs
  Diversity of child needs
  
• Pay attention to language skills of the children, what language do they speak

Purpose of Session: To come up with action steps to take back to organizations and states.

Action Steps

• Invite state legislator into early childhood classrooms.
• Find opportunities to share information about children?s competence, we can?t have uneducated adults working with them.
• Distribute ?I Am Your Child? videos free to parents, get legislators to voice the message.
• Distribute information to parents about what to expect as children progress in their literacy skills.
• Put pressure on legislators to raise teacher salaries.
• Make sure model programs are being evaluated.
• Parents and the public need to understand and demand that more public money subsidize child care.
• Develop solidarity with in the early childhood community across the various programs.
• Use University lab schools to help provide quality settings for teachers to learn.
• State standards are often a result of grassroots efforts.
• We need to compare state standards.

Challenges the industry faces

• Low salaries.
• Public will.
• Creating a sense of shared responsibility.
• Need to professionalize early childhood education in the eyes of the public.
• Finding quality student practicum experiences.
• Overcoming the notion that the only qualities early childhood education workers need is to be loving towards children and have patience.

Models, comparisons, resources:

• NAEYC and IRA statement, position paper .
• Parent brochure, Raising a Reader, Raising a Writer.
• In Europe early childcare workers receive the same amount of training and pay as primary and secondary teachers.
• In China, early childhood care providers start preparing in their last two years of high school and continue training in four year programs.
• Hawaii program that promotes reading through the Rotary Club.
• Teacher Preparation Programs.

Q: How should teacher training programs be set up? Should 3 year old teachers have the same training as 5 year old teachers?

A:

• Four year preparation programs for early childhood teachers should cover birth through age eight.
• States should license 0-8 educators.
• Salaries for child care providers need to rise.
• Education levels need to rise.
• CDA training reduces harm to children and trains teachers to do a basic job. Better educated teacher have better outcomes.