Building Literacy Foundations: Weaving the Literacy Blanket

Building Literacy Foundations:

Weaving the Literacy Blanket

Like the talented Coast Salish weavers, literacy mentors use strands to create a beautiful literacy blanket unique for each child. All  of us committed to our young literacy learners contribute to this  creation that will provide  life-long use for future learning.  Three important strands are needed to weave this strong and serviceable literacy blanket for all of our young readers.

Building the Literacy Relationship Foundation Strand:

Parents, aunties, uncles, grandparents, elders, teachers, family friends and community members act as literacy mentors for our young readers.  We know that starting out right is important.  Children begin their literacy journey while they are still very young. Parents and other literacy mentors help children develop language and literacy skills by casually pointing out meaningful words or letters. They take time to have conversations with children and provide a sense of coziness and safety when reading with a child. They search for books that are of interest to the child and are visually pleasing. They allow lots of time for “grand conversations “that naturally spring from engaging topics that come up while reading together.  

No literacy program exists that replaces caring literacy mentors in a child’s life.  The relationship fostered between book, child and caring adult leads to children engaging with print for the sheer joy of it.  Most importantly it prevents reading failure. The vehicle for fostering and nourishing this important relationship is the Read-a-Loud.  Before a child can have an interest in reading, he must first have an awareness of it.  Caring adults will make sure children are bathed in the riches of literature. Our most practical and effective opportunity for creating self-motivated independent readers is to read to children every day. Three books a day, that is the minimum, not the maximum!

Building the Concepts of Print Foundation Strand:

 Building the Concepts of Print Foundation means that we must provide play-based learning opportunities that reveal how books work.  The thoughtful literacy mentor is ever mindful that children learn through play.  They provide fun and inviting activities so that children explore and discover how squiggly black lines (print) is just like talking.  Consolidating the concepts about story structures, viewing the many purposes for print, and developing word knowledge is a long, gradual process.  It is similar and closely connected to learning to talk. Recent research supports an interactive and experiential process of learning spoken and written language skills. Matching text difficulty with the reader provides scaffolding for learning early literacy concepts.  Using engaging texts helps the child notice the use of left to right sweeps, the sequence of letters in a word and how to “read” pictures and the the “spaces” in the book.

Making meaning from black squiggly lines is complex. Quality coaching is essential. Every minute with a capable and caring literacy mentor or coach is precious.

Building Oral language and Book Language Foundation Strand:

Educators must also pay attention to the interests and strengths of each reader because high interest in a topic enhances comprehension and motivates the young reader.  Book language is often different from the language we use in general conversations.  The language found in books (especially non-fiction) is often more complex because unfamiliar syntax and vocabulary is presented. Children benefit when caring adults provide a diverse selection of texts from which to choose.  The texts should be culturally relevant and honour the unique strengths and gifts of the child.  Even the very young enjoy and learn from literature that presents characters and settings they recognize.  Children learn ways of addressing fears, challenges and real life issues through knowing a character in good story.

Early Literacy Does Not Mean Early Reading

  Our current understanding of early language and literacy development has provided new ways of helping children learn to talk, read, and write.  Early literacy development is a continuous developmental process that begins in the first years of life. However, current research DOES NOT advocate the “teaching of reading”! Formal instruction which pushes infants, toddlers or pre-school children to actually read and write words is not developmentally appropriate and in fact- counter productive.   However, early  interactions that are play-based, literacy-rich experiences, embedded in real life settings; promote the natural unfolding of early literacy skills through the sheer enjoyment of books.  

Early literacy skills are essential to literacy development and should be the focus of early language and literacy programs.  The first five years of exploring and playing with books, singing nursery rhymes, listening to familiar and engaging stories, recognizing letters and important words, and scribbling are the building blocks for language and literacy development. By focusing on the first years of life, we give new meaning to the important interactions young children have with books and stories.

The Building Literacy Foundations Continuum is designed to support family members and educators in their important role of passing on the legacy of literacy. When caring literacy coaches document a child’s learning strengths and literacy learning, they are motivated and guided to set reachable goals for the very young literacy learner.  Use a specific colour for each date as you highlight learning opportunities or experiences that are  encountered.  The adult literacy mentors and the child walk hand in hand. The continuum celebrates the caring adult’s mentorship role and the importance of joyful, play-based,  literacy learning.  Wrap the very young in their unique Literacy Blanket and do not forget to celebrate the journey!

Donna Klockars, 2015

For Weaving the Literacy Blanket 0-5 Continuum contact dklockars@shaw.ca for free downloads

A Pearl to Ponder

“The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn’t been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.” Pablo Casals