Targeting literacy among children

Literacy is the capacity that separates human beings from every other being. The work literacy is one word with eight letters. Without literacy those letters would be meaningless symbols.

Today literacy has become the driving force in early childhood language arts instruction. Even though the word is used constantly, there are probably as many definitions for the word as there are references to it. An easy word but a most difficult concept.

Development of a child and the development of people in a country at large are tied to literacy. Historically, literacy has meant the ability to read and write - three R’s reading, writing and arithmetic.

Now with all we have learned about how children develop language, how learning takes place and how to teach more effectively the definition of literacy has broadened.

In advanced countries the rate of development is measured to a certain extent on the literacy rate of its people. It is believed that literacy is the ability to make effective use of basic communication operations. These communication operations generally include efficient a) Reception and b) Expression of language.

Literate people are able to enjoy literature, art, music and drama. Literate people can think and communicate with. Others about life and their experiences. Literacy is the essence of human interaction.

Literacy development is an ongoing process and should be viewed as a process of discovery and not as a collection of skills that are in isolation.

Literacy instruction should be seen as a way to help children experience life, language and print to understand the relationships among those elements and to become effective communicators. Literacy instruction is a way to expand the natural language and experiences of children.

It is a way to help children to develop communication skills. Literacy instruction is a demanding task but one that is most rewarding for the teacher. Both learning and teaching literacy to children can be fun. A wide variety of activities using several materials and methods have to be used to provide children with many experiences in listening, speaking, reading and writing that are fully integrated for continual development.

In this regard teachers in primary schools have an immense task on their shoulders.

Planning the appropriate activities and providing the necessary environment for developing literacy is the key to develop the ability to communicate.

In a pre-school the word used and the words children know are invariably spoken. He or she may know a few written words but there is little knowledge of abstract words like ‘forgiveness’ because they are not easily visualized and is a difficult concept to grasp. A lot of talk is colloquial copied from adults and other children. The imitative element is predominant.

The learning process of children is an information-processing unit, something similar to what we experience in computer technology.

Learning will focus on 3 main areas

1. Input. - Presentation and the selection of Information which enters through the sense organs coded and passed on to the brain where it can be stored for a short time-short term memory.

When the Input has meaning it becomes Long Term Memory.

2. Processing - The internal operations leading to creation of meaning.

3. Output - External practice to establish new information in Long Term Memory.

Input can include:

a) Incidental learning

b) Unguided Learning Placing a child in a particular environment will guide her learning - Maria Montessori

c) Directed Learning - Social Training using selected experiences.

Eg: We don’t play rough.

For instance, preschool learning involves pictures and mental images and play in real life and imaginative play for language growth.

This article was extracted from a study on Literacy among Children and written by Ruth Rani Silva, a retired teacher who taught both in the primary level and secondary level in Sri Lanka and abroad for over 35 years.