Nourish and Flourish places an emphasis on play as a means for children to develop. A child's language skills are best exercised through dramatic play and read alouds!
In play, children try new ways of combining their thoughts and language skills. It is through play and make believe that children first develop new and creative ideas (Pelletier 1).
I'm sure we can all remember a time when we played dress-up and re-enacted our favourite bed time stories for friends and family!
In play, children try new ways of combining their thoughts and language skills. It is through play and make believe that children first develop new and creative ideas (Pelletier 1).
I'm sure we can all remember a time when we played dress-up and re-enacted our favourite bed time stories for friends and family!
Coupled with dramatic play, read alouds with parents and in the classroom are integral to language development.
Most 3 year olds can successfully extract word meanings from listening to storybooks being read to them (Senechal 218). In addition, in the first 6 years of life, children have the capacity to acquire up to 8,000 root words of English through the avenues of reading and listening (Templin, 1957: Senechal, Thomas, Monker 218).
When reading to children, remember to have fun and be silly! Also, encourage children to improvise and add characters or events to the story to make them their own!
When reading to children, remember to have fun and be silly! Also, encourage children to improvise and add characters or events to the story to make them their own!
Below is a link to the Chapters/Indigo online store with their recommended Top 50 books for children:
Teaching children how to read, write and speak can be a daunting task for any teacher.
Here is a look at a few goals that most teachers will have for Primary/Junior-aged children:
- Learn phonics, or the sounds of words
- Recognize syllables
- Learn the meaning of words
- The appropriate use of words
- Oral presentation skills
- Reading comprehension
Some ways that teachers can introduce complex topics such as phonics is through song. Children can also learn words through song and clap the different syllables.
For example:
For example:
Videos like these help children map the sounds of speech, otherwise known as phonemes onto letters, or graphemes. Breaking words down into sounds is a helpful tool that teachers use to aid young children in the understanding of word formation (Pelletier 3).
Another way we can help children learn language is by simply engaging them in conversation!
Conversation provides an opportunity for language to develop and improve. It is also important to probe children to verbally recount a story or event. This is called Narrative Skill.
For example, if you take your child to a parade, ask them at the end: “what was your favourite float, and why?”. These kinds of questions allow for individual thought and creativity.
For example, if you take your child to a parade, ask them at the end: “what was your favourite float, and why?”. These kinds of questions allow for individual thought and creativity.
Studies have shown that having skill in narrative comprehension relates to academic performance in school, especially with reading and writing (Pelletier 1).
If you nourish a child's speaking., reading and writing skills, their creativity will flourish!
Work Cited:
Pelletier, J. Supporting early language and literacy. Research Monograph #37. Ontario: Ministry of Education. 2009. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/WW_Early_Language.pdf.
Senechal, M., Thomas, E., & Monker, J. Individual differences in 4 – year – old children’s acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading. Journal of Educational Psychology. 82 (2). 1995. 218 – 229.
Pelletier, J. Supporting early language and literacy. Research Monograph #37. Ontario: Ministry of Education. 2009. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/WW_Early_Language.pdf.
Senechal, M., Thomas, E., & Monker, J. Individual differences in 4 – year – old children’s acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading. Journal of Educational Psychology. 82 (2). 1995. 218 – 229.