Training Guides for the Head Start Learning Community:
Emerging Literacy: Linking Social Competence to Learning
Module 1
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| Contents | Preface
| Introduction
| Module 1
| Module 2
| Module 3
| Module 4 | | Professional Development | Resources | Training Guides | |
Emerging Literacy: Supporting a Natural Process
Handout 5: Encouraging Children's Language Development
Instructions: As you read the brief descriptions assigned to your group, try to picture in your mind the setting and what the children and adults are doing. Then imagine what might happen next--what the adults could do to encourage the children's language development. Discuss your ideas with the other members of your group. You will have 10 minutes to complete this assignment.
Remember:
- Emerging literacy--learning to listen, speak, read, and write--is a gradual, ongoing process.
- Adults can do many things to support language development.
- Eight-month-old Dontae sits in his high chair, watching his grandmother make pancakes for breakfast. What could she do to encourage Dontae's language development?
Example: Sing to Dontae about what she's doing: I'm making pancakes--big, fat pancakes!
- Ms. Torelli, an Early Head Start teacher, is helping two toddlers--Pamela and Vilma--get ready to go outdoors. Pamela's home language is English. Vilma's home language is Spanish. What could Ms. Torelli do to encourage both toddlers' language development?
- Mrs. Washburn, a Head Start parent, is on the downtown bus with her two children--eighteen-month-old Kira and three-year-old Eric. They are going to the community health clinic. What could Mrs. Washburn do to encourage her children's language development--while they are on the bus and when they get to the clinic?
- Four-year-old Frankie, a child with developmental delays, brings his favorite book to his dad and says, Dad. Dad. Read me. Frankie asks to hear this book every day--sometimes more than once. What could Frankie's father do to encourage his son's language development?
- Wendell and Charlotte, four-year-olds at a group socialization session, are holding onto the same tricycle. Charlotte lets go and pushes Wendell. He pushes her back. A parent volunteer sees the children's disagreement. What could the parent volunteer do to encourage the children's language development?
- The Chadwick family, two adults and four children--ten months, two-and-a-half years, six years, and ten years--are enjoying a picnic at their favorite park. What could the adults and older children do to encourage the younger children's language development?
Handouts
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