Pre-K Reading Pressure Cooker

Because young children develop and function at such different rates and levels, early childhood programs cannot assume all 3 and 4 year old children are inters ted or ready to read & write. Unfortunately, parents feel pressure from public schools to make sure their child is "ready." But ready is a vague word and can mean very different things to trained early childhood professionals versus administrators at elementary schools who have little or no training in early childhood development. They assume basic abilities that we adults take for granted such as 20/20 vision and focus are fully developed in young children - when in fact the opposite is true.

Erroneously, the proposed fix for this dilemma is start 'em sooner with seat work and phonics drills. Instead the research by the International Reading Foundation shows that programs must be flexible and prepared to offer a variety of playful activities that individualize learning experiences to meet each child at his or her level. All good teaching "builds on what young children already know, and it recognizes that children have had very different prior experiences with books and with oral and written language (NAEYC & IRA, 2005)." Enriching these prior experiences and making the magic of stories and reading come alive is the best way to inspire children to want to become readers. Providing meaningful and open-ended opportunities for the children to feel comfortable experimenting with language, sounds, and writing as a way to express their thoughts and ideas will extend learning into a love of reading.

To help you understand how infants and children actually develop into readers, we've included the information below published by in 2005 by the NAEYC & IRA to present a joint position on this hot topic (NAEYC & IRA, 2005).

"From Infancy through Third Grade: Phases in Children’s Development of Reading and Writing

Phase 1: Awareness and exploration (infancy through preschool)

Phase 2: Experimental reading and writing (kindergarten)

Phase 3: Early reading and writing (grade 1)

Phase 4: Transitional reading and writing (grade 2)

Phase 5: Independent and productive reading and writing (grade 3)"

In the preschool and Pre-K years it is only reasonable to expect that children function at Phase 1 in which they explore freely with the world of printed words and stories with adult guidance. All children can do this at his or her own developmental level. A few older 4 year old children might be ready to function at Phase 2 which often begins a more systematic approach to reading & writing. Rarely will a young child function at Phase 3, and none should be expected to function at Phase 4 or 5. Sooner is not always better or "smarter," sooner is sometimes just a result of pressure cooker expectations.

Resources for further reading:

NAEYC and IRA. 2005. Where We Stand on Learning to Read and Write. Washington, DC: NAEYC. (Available online at
http://www.naeyc.org/about/positions/pdf/WWSSLearningToReadAndWriteEnglish.pdf)

Neuman, S.B., C. Copple, & S. Bredekamp. 2000. Learning to read and write: Developmentally appropriate practices for young children. Washington, DC: NAEYC. (Available online at www.naeyc.org/about/positions/asp).