2. Do you screen phone calls?

3. Elaborate more on...income associated to culture.

4. What happens if not all the children can read at the same pace or level? Is that too much pressure?

6. We know the signs of "readiness" in other areas of development such as toilet learning. Are there signs of readiness for specific literacy skills such as writing one's name or learning letter-sound relations?

7. We would like to see more examples of early literacy (toddler/preschool). We are concerned that many of the examples shown tonight are not developmentally appropriate for 0-4 year olds and that educators new to the field will view these examples as their goals for their classrooms.

8. What about parents' frustration when they use home language but children only respond to them in English? I hear that this happens frequently, making it difficult to maintain full learning and usage of home language.

9. How important is good penmanship in writing development? When I was in elementary school this was stressed a great deal and was one of the key measure of your writing ability. This seems less important to me than contact and self-expression, though enough ability to write legibly is necessary in order to get your point across, so others can understand.

10. Many children with chronic ear infections experience language acquisition delays due to reduced hearing (less input). What techniques are used to help them catch up? Many do not seem to catch up quickly even after tube implantation or other corrections are made.

11. How would the panel respond to a parent who asks/demands that their child learns to read and write?

12. How do you help nervous and overzealous parents who insist on reading to kids (babies) when they are not interested-just because books say "Early brain research emphasizes..."

13. Related to print awareness-Isn't that a question about culture? Some books are read up and down and right to left.

14. Is Early Literacy a form of art?

15. I would like suggestions on how to more effectively teach and assess Early Literacy when there are 3 languages represented within the classroom, and I am only fluent in one language.

16. Does a person need to have a Teacher Permit for the stipend? Would LA Teaching Credentials also work?

17. If 2 children speak the same language, should we encourage or discourage them from using the second language at school?

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22. The little girl Dakota wrote her name in all capitals. It was discussed that the models used in her world were capital/lower case, yet it was developmentally easier to use all capitals. In learning to write and making it a successful experience, should the first introduction be with capital letters?

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23. The children in kindergarten are taught to use the D'Nealian form of handwriting. Women in the class say they feel children should learn a font closer to what a child will see in print. Are we teaching two different processes here, one to write and one to read or should they blend and complement one another.

24. Is there a developmentally appropriate method we can use and share with the kindergarten teachers?

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25. Is it okay to give books to children and let them narrate or tell the story in their own words?

Sue Bredekamp: The children in kindergarten are taught to use the D’Nealian form of handwriting. Women in the class say they feel children should learn a font closer to what a child will see in print. Are we teaching two different processes here, one to write and one to read or should they blend and complement one another.

Sue Bredekamp: When young children write, they are learning many things about reading and writing, not just about how to form letters (handwriting or penmanship). In a real sense, they are learning the "essence" of a letter because in reality, we see letters in many different fonts but we can still read them. So, it makes sense to expose children to both upper and lower case letters as they begin the process of learning the alphabet.

As for their writing, most experts agree that writing capitals first is easier for children because the capital letters use circles and lines that children have already mastered in their drawings. Also, capital letters when turned around, do not form other letters the way lower case letters sometimes do (for example, b and d or g and q). This does not mean that there is a rigid sequence for teaching children to write letters. But they are likely to be most successful with capitals first.

The D’Nealian handwriting program teaches a way of forming manuscript letters on a slant that is similar to the cursive form of handwriting. The assumption is that learning to write manuscript letters this way will speed the transition to cursive writing in the early grades. The evidence for this is not conclusive and writing slanted alphabets can engage young children in fine-motor motions that are beyond their physical ability. Preschool children are likely to have even greater difficulty with D’Nealian handwriting because of their limited fine motor skills.

For preschool children, the recommendation is to promote writing letters using straight lines, not just because they are easier for children to form but because they look more like the print that children will see in books.

Your question about whether we are teaching two different processes, one to read and one to write is a good one. Eventually, we all need to be able to read and write in both manuscript and cursive so these are not really unrelated. For young children, however, we begin with the simple and work toward the more complex, not expecting them to learn it all at once. But one thing to try with children is to see how many different ways their letter (the first letter in their name) appears in print. Children seem to still recognize the McDonald’s sign as an M, even though it doesn’t look like any form of "correct" handwriting

Sue Bredekamp: It is OK to let children tell stories in their own words. It helps expand their expressive language ability which is very important for reading success. It is especially good to do this wordless books. When children narrate or tell stories, they are acquiring skills that aren’t identical to the ones they are acquiring when they are being read to which of course, is also important. In reading, children need to learn that the words on the page are permanent. So both strategies have important purposes. Perhaps the best thing to do is to read to children but also to engage them in talking about the story in their own words after the reading. This way we get the full benefit of both strategies.

Sue Bredekamp: You weren’t the only ones confused by that statement. What we were trying to distinguish was two kinds of language: expressive language and receptive language. Expressive language is speaking and communicating, while receptive language is listening and understanding. Both are important but they are not the same thing. And children need experiences that develop both kinds of language. You are correct that expressive language includes non-verbal as well as verbal ways of expressing oneself.

Sue Bredekamp: Lilian Katz and her colleagues have written about the teacher’s role in cultivating children’s interests. Her books include: Engaging Children’s Minds: The Project Approach by Lilian Katz and Sylvia Chard (published by Ablex), and Young Investigators: The Project Approach in the Early Years by Judy Helm and Lilian Katz (published by NAEYC).

David Dickinson (who is one of our guest faculty) has a new book coming out in April that describes his research demonstrating the value of rare words and other curriculum experiences that promote children’s language and literacy development. When the book is out, we will post the information on our website.

Sue Bredekamp: For children with identified disabilities or special needs, the law requires that parents be part of assessment teams. But parents have a role to play in assessment of every child. The primary purpose is to get information about children’s capabilities at home and in other settings besides the school or program. For example, often children will talk more at home and without parents’ participation on the team, children’s full level of language ability will not be known. Parents also have an important role to play in goal setting for their children. The literature in early childhood special education has many resources on this topic. Contact the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children. Their website is www.dec-sped.org

 

Sue Bredekamp: Toddlers will be at very different levels in their language development so it is difficult to answer this question. There are many reasons why toddlers don’t talk. One may be that they don’t need to, that others respond to all their needs without their verbalizing. Another may be that they are genuinely shy, a real personality characteristic. The best advice is to give children reasons to talk, don’t always respond to their gestures. Also, talk with them individually, especially the shy ones. Very quiet toddlers may need role models, so engage them in play which encourages talking.

 

Sue Bredekamp: You don’t say how old the child is, so it’s hard to answer. If the child is very young, give him experiences with his name that don’t require writing such as playdough with alphabet letters or sandpaper letters to feel. If the child is 4 or older, it could be that he is like some children who genuinely feel the need to be right and will not try things until they know they can succeed. Give him many experiences that he can do that promote fine motor development (building with small manipulatives or pegboards, for instance) in the meantime. Don’t pressure because you don’t want him to lose motivation. This is a situation where scaffolding is most useful. Provide just a little assistance to help him do what is beyond him. Offer to do some writing with him, but not so far beyond his capability that he will be frustrated.

 

Sue Bredekamp: Yes, but it may be more effective to read it first in Chinese so they know the basic story line and then read it in English to them, perhaps not back to back because that requires a longer time.

 

 

Sue Bredekamp: This is a good question and has been the concern of many people. The fact is that Head Start has always defined social competence broadly as the ability to function successfully in school and in life. To be socially competent, a person must be competent in all areas of development: social, emotional, physical, language, and cognitive. The emphasis on early literacy and numeracy is based on what is now known about children’s capabilities to function. In HeadsUp! Reading we demonstrate how we support language and literacy development while at the same time support children’s play and social competence. These are not either/or situations. Instead we have to think of them as both/and.

 

Sue Bredekamp: In that video, we were demonstrating specific roles for teachers in children’s play. In this case, to illustrate the onlooker/participant role, the teacher needs to be involved. The teacher had made a decision to support children to a level of more cooperative play. Perhaps, she had observed them for a long time and found that they needed support to move beyond solitary play. That does not mean that solitary play is never valuable. Sometimes, children do need private time alone and that should be respected. But the video was illustrating a specific point of how teachers can play a more active role in children’s play that is actually to their benefit. The same is true of children being in a group. Children gain different skills and abilities from different contexts. Just as they sometimes need private time, they also benefit from group interaction which includes increased opportunities for language interaction.

 

Sue Bredekamp: Singing can facilitate oral language for any child. It helps develop phonological awareness. It introduces children to new words and sentence structures. And as you point out, it can be culturally congruent and therefore, comfortable for children. It is very motivating as well.

Sue Bredekamp: There should be a reciprocal relationship between children’s interest and curriculum. That means that each one effects and is influenced by the other. For example, in planning curriculum for young children, we should anticipate or predict children’s interests and be sure to build in experiences that are most likely to engage them. So if we have specific literacy goals, we achieve them by choosing books on topics of interest or choosing books that children can identify with. Similarly, children will bring their own interests and these can be used to initiate, expand, or deepen planned curriculum content. At the same time, it is important for adults to realize that children’s interests do not come out of nowhere. Often they are created because of a planned experience the adults have provided. So adults do not just wait to discover and follow children’s interests. They provide experiences that create children’s interests. But research shows that people learn more when they are interested so we should never ignore interests, especially young children’s.

 

Sue Bredekamp: It’s important to understand the concept of "predictor". Predictors are variables that are related to future events, not causes or guarantees of future events. So while, good expressive language schools do predict success, poor skills do not ensure poor success in later school. We should never use the concept of predictors to assume that life courses are set. Instead, we should intervene as soon as possible, do as much as we can, and never give up, knowing that humans are capable of learning throughout life.

This means that you can and should help this child to catch up on delayed language skills. You should do many of the things that we teach in our course. You should see that the child has many opportunities for one-on-one extended conversations with more accomplished speakers (these may be older children as well as adults), experiences that introduce rare words, book reading and conversations with the child that extend beyond the specifics of the book. All of these can be done at home so work with parents and other family members as well. If the child is significantly delayed in speech as you indicate, then a speech therapist should also be engaged.

 

 

Sue Bredekamp: The American Speech Hearing and Language Association is the professional association for speech therapists and pathologists. Their resources are some of the best on this topic. Also our next Talking program on April 11 will be devoted entirely to the topic of second language learners and English language development. Depending on the age of the child, children can be learning English while also continuing to learn their home language, so the answer is not one or the other. I also refer you to Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children by Snow, Burns, and Griffin. The book can be found at www.nap.edu. Patton Tabors who was guest faculty on our last talking program, has a great book called One Child, Two Languages.

 

 

Sue Bredekamp: You are correct that all Head Start sites are inclusive by law and have been for some time. The same should be true of all early childhood programs now because of the Americans with Disabilities Act. We use the phrase inclusive Head Start classroom for videos where we especially want to draw the viewers’ attention to how children with disabilities are served. Many of our viewers have questioned the fact that they do not see enough children with disabilities in our programs. The sites we video include these children but they often do not have obvious disabilities. This is why we’ve used the word "inclusive" to draw that attention.

As far Enhancement sites, we are not sure when that term has been used. There really isn’t such a thing that I know of. Let us know when you heard it used, and we’ll investigate further.