The Kindergarten
Language and
Literacy Program
Community of Learnes Foundation
Traditional views on literacy development:
• Children must be drilled in phonics and
other skilled oriented procedures
• Presents reading and writing as requiring
instruction in a set of skills that cannot be
taught until children have demonstrated
certain “readiness behaviors”
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Readiness skills and not reading and
writing were viewed as appropriate
preschool activities
Community of Learnes Foundation
Progressive views about literacy
Children have emerging ideas about reading
and writing long before they get formal
instruction about it
It is not drills, rote learning or workbooks that
provide meaningful literacy education for young
children. It is opportunities to use the elements
of language including listening, speaking,
reading and writing in meaningful and purposeful
ways.
Community of Learnes Foundation
Children who live in print-filled world have
early awareness of written language and
develop concepts about it from a very
early age
Learning about reading does not wait for
children to be declared officially “ready”
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Children need opportunities to explore the
many uses of language.
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The foundations for making sense of written
language start long before reading with early
social uses of print.
Note: Everyday experiences and supportive
adults who interpret and call attention to print
give children opportunities to think about written
language
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Key Areas of the Kindergarten
Language and Literacy Curriculum
Sensory-Perceptual Activities
* Auditory Awareness/Discrimination
* Visual Discrimination
* Form Perception
Representation
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Phonemic Awareness
Word Study
Reading Experiences
* Shared Reading
* Independent Reading
* Literature-based Experiences
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Concepts about Print
Vocabulary
Reading Strategies/Comprehension
Receptive /Expressive Language Skills
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Oral Language Experiences
Poems, chants, rhymes, storytelling
Language Play
- language use in playful ways
ex. silly words, jokes, make-up rhymes
experiments with sounds
* helps children develop a conscious
awareness of language itself, the kind
of thinking they will need as they learn to read
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Writing in various ways: drawing, scribbling,
letterlike forms, invented spelling, conventional
forms
Provide a variety of writing and drawing
materials
Anticipate various forms of writing
Encourage children to write in their own way
Display and send home samples of children’s
writing
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Invented Spelling - A child's attempt at spelling a
word using what they know about the spelling
Invented spelling allows emergent writers to
explore written language and experiment with
writing at a very early stage.
Early writing is a valuable developmental indicator
of the conventional spelling patterns and the
sound/symbol relationships the child has
internalized.
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Organizing Framework
The Environment
- print rich; demonstrates many use of print
Books in the Classroom
- availability
- time for browsing and being read to
- storytelling literature-based activities
Puzzles and Games
- hands-on, fun and non-threatening games
Meaningful and Authentic Writing Experiences
- availability of writing tools
- built-in/integrated writing activities
- exploring different purposes of writing
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