Dear Mandy,
In considering how to respond to your question, I initially toyed with “interaction,” “socialization,” “developmentally appropriate,” and “play,” as ideas that come to mind when thinking about kindergarten and primary-grade literacy instruction. However, after reading—just last week—a most informative and inspirational article by Susan B. Neuman, a professor of Educational Studies at the University of Michigan specializing in early childhood development, I feel compelled to share some of Neuman’s ideas and link you to this ever-so-important article. (And BTW: there are three words in “Susan” “B” “Neuman.”)
In Sparks Fade, Knowledge Stays: The National Early Literacy Panel’s Report Lacks Staying Power, Susan Neuman advises us to think out of the box when it comes to deciding on practices that will enhance children’s early literacy development. She insists that focusing too heavily on code-based practices, such as helping children understand the alphabetic principle, decoding, and encoding words, can detract us from also providing children with a “massive, in-depth, and ever-growing foundation of factual knowledge,” which is key to improving their reading comprehension. In short, to help children read with comprehension, children need to learn both code and content knowledge.I hope you enjoy the article as much as I did, and that it leads to some good conversation among your colleagues.
Sincerely,
Sharon
P.S. Actually after I read this article I emailed Susan to thank her for getting this important early childhood message out to us and promised that I'd make it my personal mission to pass her words along. I'm keeping my promise...now won't you join me?
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