Programming Ideas
Language
We know that spoken language fulfils a number of functions for the children some of which are to satisfy their own needs, to express expectations, to talk about themselves, to resolve differences, to develop relationships with others, to find out about their world, to explore what they know about themselves and to share and act upon new information. Over time the spoken language they use across these various functions becomes more elaborate and sophisticated. Pointing and saying “me, drink” becomes “Can I have a juice please? whereas “me, big” becomes “I’m a big girl now” and so on.
Questions are an important tool that can be used to help children learn to use spoken language. Using what, where and why questions provides an opportunity to engage children in sharing their knowledge and experiences with you and others. Questions can be open or closed. Open-ended questions are questions like “What’s happening?” or “What do you see? Closed questions have only one answer. Some examples are “What colour is that hat?” or ”How many bananas are on the table?”. (Source: Washington Research Institute, 2003). “Ask Me” by Antje Damm is a small book with pictures and associated open-ended questions that can be used to promote discussions and conversations with children at home and at preschool. This book has a range of questions some of which are suitable for use with younger children others that are more suitable for use with older children. The book targets children aged from three to eight years.
Literacy
(i) Rhyming
The Washington Research Institute has identified four levels for rhyming activities; these are hearing rhyming words, learning about rhyming words, having fun with rhyming words and using magnetic letters to rhyme.
There are many books that can be used to introduce children to rhyming. For example, the Hairy Maclary series by Lynley Dodd is rich in rhyme and can be used to introduce children to rhyming. Another great rhyming story is Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson.
Nursery rhymes are another way to help children play with sounds and are often found in a collection within one book. Children enjoy the fact that they are silly, and can add actions to make them more fun. They like to read them over and over again, which helps them with their early reading skills. Some popular ones are Humpty Dumpty, Hickory Dickory Dock, Jack and Jill and Old Mother Hubbard.
When choosing books to share with children look for books that have interesting descriptive words to enrich the story and enhance the development of their vocabulary.
(ii) Environmental Print
Encouraging children to observe everyday print is a good way to develop early literacy. Asking a child to find a familiar item such as milk or bread at the supermarket helps them to make meaning of the print which is written on the packet, and reinforces the idea that writing has a purpose. When children are studying a packet, try to create a link between the letters they can see and other words which may contain them. For example, there may be an ‘M’ in milk and an ‘M’ in Matthew or Mum. Creating connections in this way enhances meaning. Other forms of environmental print can include shopping catalogues or ‘junk mail’. Flipping through catalogues and discussing the contents children are familiar with is an engaging activity.
In this way, simple items which the children are exposed to everyday become very useful in familiarising them to literacy concepts.