Well Meaning Parents & "Home Schooling a toddler/preschooler"

Often we receive emails at PreschoolFirst from well meaning parents who struggle under the popular mis-perception that they must “do worksheets” with their young child as a way to help them learn and “be ready” for kindergarten. Here’s one we received over the Thanksgiving Day weekend from a NJ mom with the email subject line Home Schooling a toddler/preschooler. She wrote:

“With so many site(s) out there offering worksheets to work on and art activities, math, language, and reading, how does one know what their child is ready for and capable of? How much is to(o) much information for this age group before they get overstimulated or lose interest?”

With little or no background in child development, confused and overwhelmed parents often fall victim to the “better start’em sooner” syndrome. Child development experts know that worksheets and memorized facts are meaningless to a toddler/preschooler’s overall knowledge about the world and learning how he/she relates to it. In fact…memorized facts will only serve a very limited purpose even in an academic environment.

Knowing the alphabet song is not the same as recognizing letters that appear in your name; and rote counting to 20 is not the same as problem-solving how to share 5 cookies between 2 children. Academic subjects are artificial ways adults organize learning for older children, young children however experience all learning in an integrated way. For example, pre-mathematical concepts can be learned in the early years in block play and pre-literacy is practiced in a parents lap when they share a favorite story together.

Ultimately all adults want to help young children grow and be successful learners. If you’re not sure what is reasonable or unreasonable to expect a young child to be able to do, or if a parent asks for guidance, review an activity or “worksheet” with the following questions in mind.

Questions to determine if a learning activity is Appropriate or Inappropriate:

Would this child CHOOSE to do this activity over something else that is similar but involves more open-ended play?

1. Does he/she squirm, have difficulty sitting, or look away often during the activity?
2. Can the child hold and use the tools or supplies needed to do the activity without your constant “correction” or supervision?
3. Will the end result of this activity look unique and acceptable no matter your child’s skill level? Or does it only produce an end result that is “cookie cutter” (i.e. very close to the same no matter who completes it)?
4. Does this activity require the child to “sit and focus” as one would expect a 6-7 year old child to be able to do?
5. Does your child seem happy and interested while you do this together?
6. Does the end result require that an adult “fix it” so it looks “perfect?”
7. Is there only one "right" way to complete the activity?

Please add your 2¢ and respond!

What would you say to help this parent understand the unnecessary physical stress and emotional pressure worksheet activities place on toddlers and young children?

What would you suggest she try?

Stretch Every Story into a Center Time Activity

There is nothing quite like the sight of a young child engrossed in a story read-aloud! The best way to make young toddlers and preschoolers into "readers" is to share many, many loved stories and then to give them a fun place to "practice" early literacy skills in a self directed center - without any pressure. This way they can retell, think about, draw and "scribble-write" their own ideas - all essential skills they will use as they develop along the path to becoming a reader.

Here are a few tips to help you include more early literacy opportunities in your class or center.

• Read every story with expression and use interesting voices to add to the drama. This will help hold the children's attention longer, stop occasionally and ask the group to guess what will happen next - before you turn to the next page.
• Always have a table set up near the reading area with a writer’s caddy containing writing materials such as a set of thick colored markers, thick pencils, thick crayons, 8 ½ in. x 11 in. paper, colored paper scraps, glue sticks, one-hole paper punches, child safety scissors, and a stapler.
• After you finish reading and discussing the story, stand the book up on the table near the writing caddy so the children can see it.
• Invite children to visit the table as an “open-ended activity” and look at the book again during center or free time.
• Encourage children to use the supplies and tools in the caddy to draw pictures from the stories or illustrate their own ideas. (Provide adequate adult supervision when children use one-hole paper punches, child safety scissors, and staplers.)
• Ask each child to tell you about his/her illustrations. Print his/her EXACT words in yellow marker and invite – but do not force – each child to trace over the letters. Say, “Choose your favorite color marker to trace these words to make them ‘your very own.’ ” Allow each child to trace as many or as few letters as he/she chooses.
• Encourage older preschool children who show interest to pretend to “write” (scribble) more words or thoughts on the page for themselves. Ask each child to pretend to read his/her words back to you.

GOLDEN RULES!

1. Do not correct a child’s letter formation, tell the child how to spell, or correct his/her “reading” during this activity.
2. Only offer guidance if a child specifically asks you how to write a letter, about the sounds in a word, or how to read a word.
3. This process is intended to provide an enjoyable, age appropriate, comfortable place for all children to imitate and practice early literacy skills and express their ideas about theme related information.

To read more about developmentally appropriate ways to promote early literacy in your program:

National Research Council (2004). Starting out right: A guide to promoting children’s reading success. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Neuman, S. B., Copple, C., & Bredekamp, S. (2000). Learning to read and write: Developmentally appropriate practices for young children. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Schickedanz, J. A. (1999). Much more than the ABC’s: The early stages of reading and writing. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Vukelich, C., & Christie, J. (2005). Building a foundation for preschool literacy: Effective instruction for children’s reading and writing development. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Zigler, E. F., Singer, D. G., & Bishop-Joseph, S. J. (Eds.). (2004). Children’s play: The roots of reading. Washington, DC: Zero To Three Press.

Roll OUT of the Buggy! Help Children Develop Better Visual Perception

For those of you who were unable to attend this year’s NAEYC conference in Dallas, here’s an especially interesting piece of research discussed in a session reported to us by one of our longtime subscribers. Janet Galantay, Director of the Child Development Lab School at the Collins Community College District at the Spring Creek Campus told us about a fascinating session presented on Thursday afternoon titled: You don’t see with your eyes-you see with your brain! Visual perception disorders and what you can do to help these often mislabeled children.

In the session Kim Sutton, Diane Davis, and Connie Harmon, from the Ozarks Technical Community College, shared evidence and concerns that the lack of a visual variety in an infant’s daily visual field may be negatively impact the development of visual perception. Presenters mentioned that fact that many of today’s infants and toddlers spend much of their time strapped in infant seats, car seats, and stroller while parents and caregivers do adult tasks. This may have a very serious consequence that appears later on in the preschool child’s life as a visual motor integration or visual perception disorder (VPD).

According to Sutton, Davis and Harmon, “Children with a VPD have difficulty recognizing, organizing, interpreting and/or remembering visual images. As a result, these children can suffer from a poor sense of direction, problems judging speed and distance, difficulties with planning and organizational skills as well as understanding letters, numbers, and math symbols. The problem is not with their eyesight, but with the way their brain processes visual information.”

One point raised in the session was that all babies and toddlers need to spend time just rolling or lying on the ground, and looking at or moving in the world around them from different angles. This helps them to develop and improve their visual perception skills. It seems that these “tummy time,” rolling about experiences, and time spent “un-strapped” are essential to the healthy development of visual perception.

To learn more about the types of activities early childhood educators and caregivers can do to ensure great experiences are provided in their programs to help develop visual perception, we encourage you to contact:
Kim Sutton at suttonk@otc.edu, Diane Davis at davisd@otc.edu, Connie Harman at harmonc@otc.edu

Click to Download the terrific presentation handout by Sutton, Davis, and Harmon hosted on the NAEYC website.

PreschoolFirst Effectiveness: Academic Study Confirms Value to Educators and Families

RESTON, VA – A new study by academic researchers proves that early childhood programs can accurately and easily assess the developmental progress of young children by using an assessment tool provided by the nonprofit PreschoolFirst service. Years of evidence from the field have strongly suggested that PreschoolFirst’s approach is highly successful. To determine whether that evidence from users could be formally confirmed, the developers asked Dr. Lento F. Maez and Dr. Candelario F. Huerta, Jr., both affiliated with Texas A&M University, to conduct a rigorous study of both the validity and the reliability of the PreschoolFirst assessment tool.

PreschoolFirst’s formative assessment instrument observes child behavior in six developmental domains, and helps detect delays and social problems early enough to maximize the positive potenial of early interventions. The study’s data set was drawn from the PreschoolFirst database, based on early childhood educator’s observations of the children in their care. For both reliability and validity, using the Cronbach alpha coefficient scale, a score of 0.70 represents an acceptable degree; a score of 1.00 represents the ideal. The study found that the PreschoolFirst assessment system’s reliability was .86, and its validity was .94.

Steven J. Gorski, President and CEO of Source for Learning, Inc., the nonprofit parent corporation of PreschoolFirst, said, “It’s highly gratifying to have our confidence in PreschoolFirst confirmed. The system has remarkable capability, and this study helps prove its tremendous benefit to teachers, administrators, children, and parents.”

To review the full report contact: Contact:
Mari Blaustein, PreschoolFirst.com, mblaustein@sflinc.org
John Cosgrove, Cosgrove Communications, jcosgrove@sflinc.org