literacy support

LITERACY IS READING AND WRITING

Very young children are “writing” when they experiment with different paint strokes or when they scribble various marks across a paper. We now know all developmental aspects of early literacy (speaking, reading, and writing) build on each other and develop together.

Learning to write happens at various paces for all children.  It is not reasonable to expect preschool children to be able to control a pencil with great accuracy, to form letters perfectly, or to write a story. Children at this age are just learning to grasp a writing instrument and learning which end of the writing tool needs to be directed to the paper, learning that the marker is not lipstick or a food to eat, and basics like how to uncap/recap a marker or open/close a pen or that the paper needs to be held securely to the writing surface so that it doesn't slide around as you write. For some who are sensory sensitive, it may be getting acquainted with paint and glue and tolerate how that feels on the hands. 

Children’s first attempts at writing resemble scribbles (dots, lines, zigzags, loops, circles, etc.). Scribbles and marks. 

1. Writing requires that one hand is holding the paper down while the other is marking. (bilateral hand use)

2. Design formation is trained in Left to Right and Top to Bottom orientation to establish a typical organization needed for more advanced letter formation and reading. Helping families to understand this is important. 

3. Consider the hand strength of the toddler and what is most motivating. Often, use of crayons or colored pencils do not show up well on paper since the child uses poor pressure. In these cases, I use markers, gel and ink pens, chalk, dry erase markers, and paint to ensure they are visually rewarded by their effort.  Provide many different activities to support building hand strength to gain better utensil control.

4. Use a variety of materials to craft: different paper materials, natural objects, stickers, fabrics, glue, scissors, etc.

5. Participate with them to create greeting cards, holiday mementos, decorations for the refrigerator that everyone can see. 

6. Don't force use of a particular hand. Observe which hand is used most frequently and which one seems to be more controlled in various activities (including use of utensils at mealtimes). When the child reaches 2-1/2 yrs to 3 years, you can begin guiding them to use the "best" hand. 

6. Let them see what you want the project to look like. The gestalt is often needed for young learners. 

7. I always put the child's name and date on projects so that parents/caregivers can see the improvements over the years. As a parent I always cherished these little mementos of when they were young. 

The home literacy environment promotes multiple opportunities for language learning which are necessary for neural connections development through factors like the amount of shared adult-child reading, the number of books in the house, and children’s interaction with print (Horowitz‐Kraus & Hutton, 2015). 

SHARED READING:

Language benefits from shared reading have been shown to begin with children as young as six-weeks old (Burns et al., 1999). 

Access is everything. In the early intervention landscape, you will find huge disparities among your families, some with a library full of books and parents with a vast language and communication abundance while others may have no books and a caregiving environment void of interaction due to any number of reasons.  When the child/family lacks access, we need to start at a foundational level. Here are some strategies: 

1. Is there a local library? Perhaps you could suggest meeting the family for a session at the library to explore what it has to offer. 

2. Get FREE stuff. Many families will give away old toys/books when their children no longer use it. **I am not shy about telling my "have it all" families that when they are ready to purge their things, to contact me so that I can spread the love to families in need.  Often, they will offer it to me, and I just hold onto it until the need presents itself (and it always does). 

3. Establish a Lending Library of your own. I have a library of about 10 books that I will loan out. I see the child/family nearly every week. I simply ask the parent to "take good care of the book and will swap it out for another the following week."

4. Most parents have cell phones with internet connection. There are a lot of books that are on YouTube. These can be a lot of fun too. 

Understanding Developmental Level

Help the caregivers understand that learning what to do with a book and appreciating a book is a learned process just like learning to walk. Early on, a child might only want to chew on the book pages or flip 3-4 at a time and only glance at the pages. It is not necessary to read every word on every page!! 

Strategies to support the caregiver is understanding this basic concept: 

1. Begin wherever the child is. Select cardboard books rather than standard pages for the birth to three population. There are also cloth books and plastic books. 

2. Adapt the time expectation to the child's level. You might only get 30 sec of time from the child while others will sit still for 10-15 min if you are engaging them in a book. 

3. Select books that are a good fit for the child. Some may like pictures with no words, some like books with letters and numbers, some like books with their favorite cartoon character or Disney princess. Some books have manipulative or textures that make it more interesting and engaging. 

4. Keep it simple! Select books that have larger pictures and familiar items, less words, repeating verses, and are not too busy. 

5. While understanding most words (receptive language) and labeling or naming pictures (expressive language) are the concepts we most often think of when we share a book with a child, there are some book basics that all children need to learn as they are developing book skills: orientation (front/back and top/bottom), how to turn pages (There is a fine motor/sensory process of knowing if you are turning one or more pages, how to get your fingers between the pages to turn, and how to manage holding the book open with one hand and flipping the page with the other.) Let's not forget, the knowledge of how to care for a book (close the book "the end", put it away "clean up", now we are "all done").

Reading a Book to a toddler is like bringing them to a play. The more expressive you can be, the more they will enjoy it. This can be uncomfortable to some parents in your presence. I never expect a parent to read in front of me unless they initiate it themselves as I never want to poke a finger at their potential inability to read. This is just how I remain respectful of the caregiver. However, I will bring in books and model for the caregiver how to share a book with the child. Here are some strategies you may find helpful:

1. Let the child have control of the book for a minute. 

2. Talk about the book with the caregiver and the child while the child is exploring it.

3. If needed, help the child open the book and flip through the pages.

4. If the child stops on a page, point to something and label it.

5. When I read the book, I do it like it is the best production of Hamlet ever! I try to get into character, I use big expressions and soft and low volume. If it is a book I can sing, I do that too! Part of the reason I do this is so that the parent can see how much fun it can be and will give me an idea of what the child likes and dislikes from a sensory standpoint. If being loud is overwhelming the child, I can tone it down and even whisper if needed. This is a good concept to discuss afterward. 

6. Add some manipulatives if this helps the child stay more involved. I use a "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" book a lot and have all the plastic characters and laminated pictures that correspond to all the characters. I can call out, "Brow Bear, Brown Bear, where are you? and see if the child can make the correct selection from a few or all. 

7. Decide if sitting is required or not! Many times, I find that kids won't sit long on the floor, but if I put them in my lap, they sit longer. Sometimes, a child just needs to move so much that I let them stand between my legs with the book in front of them. Sometimes, they don't stay near me at all, but they will walk about looking back at me from time to time as I am acting out the story or making funny animal or environmental noises or trying to talk in a Disney princess or Elmo voice. 

Life circumstances and how this relates to literacy may be bewildering to you, but I assure you that there are a significant number of situations that will occur that you can use to support literacy for a child and family. Here are some strategies that may help you with fitting the DEC practice guidelines:

1. The child you are seeing is expecting to be a brother or sister soon. 

2. The child has a special diagnosis. You can find books for some special populations.

3. The family is expecting to move to a new home.

4. The family uses more than one language, and they want to teach the child both languages.  

5. Culture is important to the family, perhaps you can help them navigate a book about a special event. Just a side note here...not all families will celebrate the same holidays you celebrate. Be respectful of using books and activities that may not be part of their custom. (Halloween is one that comes to mind.)

Special positioning may be needed in order for a child to view a book with you. There are many ways to position a child to enable them to enjoy a book. Sitting is not the only way to share a book. Consider these positions:

1. Corner sitting on the sofa using pillows on either side that provide hip support and elbow support.

2. Side lying on the sofa or on the floor. Prop the child's head on a low pillow so the neck remains parallel with the floor. Elevated side lying is my favorite as this gets the child slightly more oriented upright. 

3. Use of adaptive seating and positioning equipment.  Many of the special chairs also have trays that will become a good platform for a book and use of an easel (which can be fabricated from cardboard) will prop the book for improved visibility. 

Building literacy into the daily routine is simply a matter of discussion, communication, suggestion, and sharing.  Recommend:  Reading with children nightly. Research literature (e.g. Scarborough et al. 1991; Snow, 2006) consistently ranks family shared book reading as the most impactful literacy development activity. 

1. What books are your and your child's favorite to look at together?

2. Does the child have favorite cartoon character books that he looks at often?

3. How do you share books with the child?

4. Is there any part of reading or looking at books that is challenging? 

5. Can you encourage offering a book instead of the iPad or other technology? If technology is all the child will settle for, can you find a YouTube video of a book of interest being read or sung?

6. Can you provide a distraction when learning to "sit to potty" by offering a book to get a little more sitting time?