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SCHOOL READINESS 57
MARCH/APRIL 2008 EXCHANGE
A baby Pats the Bunny
A toddler holds up two fingers to show
her age
A three year old sings bits of the ABC song
A four year old aligns one cup and one
napkin at each place around the snack
table
The five year olds keep a running list of who
still wants a turn to pilot the ship
All of these children are exploring elements of literacy
and numeracy. Such explorations begin in the earliest
days of life and are a natural outgrowth of childrens
curiosity and interest in how the world works. Based
on experiences like
these, children
build a reservoir of
knowledge about
language, reading,
and mathematics
that they take with
them to kinder-
garten, first grade,
and beyond.
The
playing field
is uneven
for poor
children
Unfortunately, some
children are not
having the kinds of
early experiences
they need to
develop founda-
tional knowledge
and skills. In fact, kindergarten teachers report that
one out of three children begin formal schooling
lacking the basic experiences they need to succeed.
Most often, these children come from families living
close to or below the poverty line (National Center for
Education Statistics, 2000). Although growing up in a
poor family does not guarantee school failure, children
from such families are twice as likely as more advan-
taged children to be in the lowest quartile in reading,
math, and general knowledge when they enter kinder-
garten. Many come to school as much as two years
behind their financially better-off peers. This creates
gaps in achievement that influence all areas of devel-
opment that can last throughout childrens school
careers (Lee & Burkham, 2002; Cunha & Heckman,
2007). These trends are depicted in this graph.
academics in early childhood
by Marjorie Kostelnik
Beginning
her career
as a Head
Start
teacher,
Marjorie Kostelnik, Ph.D.,
has worked with children
and families as a child
care provider, a nursery
school teacher, an
elementary school
specialist, and as a
center director. For the
past 25 years much of
her time has been spent
teaching and learning
from early childhood
professionals. The author
of several books, she
and her co-authors
just completed
Developmentally
Appropriate Curriculum:
Best Practices in Early
Childhood Education,
4th edition, published by
Prentice Hall. She is
currently Dean of the
College of Education
and Human Sciences
at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln.
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
0.10
0.02
0.03
0.04
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Age
Below Poverty Line Above Poverty Line
Standard
Deviation
Cognitive Skill Accumulation
Children Born in Families Below versus Above the Poverty Line
Source: Cunha, F. & Heckman, J. (2007). Investing in Disadvantaged Young Children is Good Economics and Good
Public Policy. Telluride Economic Summit on Early Childhood Investment, Telluride, CO. September 9-10, p. 5.
Reprinted with permission from Exchange magazine.
Visit us at www.ChildCareExchange.com or call (800) 221-2864.
Multiple use copy agreement available for educators by request.
As you can see, lack of skill early on inhibits new skill
development and makes it harder for children to catch
up. However, the evidence that high quality early
childhood programs can and do make a difference in
these trajectories means we have reason to be
optimistic that children can develop the skills they
need as they participate in child care and other early
learning programs from birth to age eight. But, how is
this to be done?
Early childhood educators
need to pay special attention
to literacy and numeracy
Research tells us that adults abilities to create
stimulating numeracy and literacy experiences for
young children are significantly influenced by how well
they understand three things:
the fundamental components of early literacy and
numeracy
how children experience literacy and mathematical
concepts in their play
what teachers can do intentionally to support
literacy and numeracy in all areas of the curriculum
throughout the day.
Teachers who lack adequate knowledge in any of
these areas are hampered in their attempts to
create developmentally appropriate programs for
young children (Fleer & Raban, 2005). Administrators
who understand these components, too, are better
able to support and guide early childhood staff.
The fundamental components of
early literacy and numeracy
Literacy involves:
listening
viewing
speaking
writing
reading
As we look toward the future, skills associated with the
use of information technology likely will be considered
essential to literacy development (Arthur & Makin
2001; Soderman & Farrell, 2008).
Numeracy has several components:
understanding number, how people represent
number, the relations among numbers, and number
systems
understanding meanings of operations and how one
operation relates to another
computing and estimating
recognizing, describing, and extending patterns
sorting, classifying, and ordering objects by size,
number, and other properties
representing and analyzing mathematical structures
adding and subtracting whole numbers using
objects, picture, and symbols
analyzing and describing shapes and the spatial
relations among objects
measuring
using mathematical tools
working with data
developing inferences and predictions
Literacy and numeracy in the classroom
Take a moment to consider the literacy and numeracy
skills these four year olds are exhibiting during
learning center time:
The pretend play area has been transformed into a
hairdressing shop. The children have created the
following signs:
Hr cataz (haircuts) 2$ 99c
Shampoo
Karlazz (curlers) 2$ and 99c
Prmz (perms) 2$
Both boys and girls move into and out of this area and
take turns as customers, receptionists, haircutters,
and cashiers. They enact cutting hair, giving perma-
nents, having manicures, making appointments,
writing down appointments, writing out receipts, using
the play cash register, and making change.
At the same time, four children are working with a
balance scale, trying to balance a series of objects
against wooden cubes; pairs of children write down
their predictions and compare their results.
Six children who are building with blocks roll small
trucks down an incline and discuss how to build
together. One child writes a sign, Dajs HL (Dangerous
Hill), and attaches it to the ramp with tape. Three
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58 SCHOOL READINESS
EXCHANGE MARCH/APRIL 2008
... kindergarten
teachers report
that one out of
three children
begin formal
schooling
lacking the
basic
experiences
they need to
succeed.
children write in their journals; two mark the water
level on a measuring tape attached to a jar under a
leaky faucet. A few children sit in the library corner
looking at books. Some are finding words they
recognize, others are telling the story from memory
(adapted from Fromberg, 2002, p. 17).
All while this is happening, the teacher and an aide
move in and out of the play, observing, asking probing
questions now and again, modeling problem solving
skills, and helping children to record their findings.
The adults are careful not to interrupt or take over.
At the same time, they provide cues and support to
help children advance in their understandings as
demonstrated through their actions and words.
Chances are you noticed children engaged in several
elements of literacy listening, speaking, reading,
and writing. Measuring, predicting, comparing, strate-
gizing, weighing, and counting are some of the mathe-
matical concepts children are exploring. Embedded in
play, these concepts are taking place in a context that
is meaningful and intellectually stimulating to the
children involved. They will be revisited many times in
the childrens play throughout the year as well as
during other daily routines such as small group
instruction and circle time.
Such activities do not all happen by chance. Skilled
teachers intentionally create opportunities for children
to become engaged in varied literacy and numeracy
Skilled teachers
intentionally
create
opportunities
for children to
become
engaged in
varied literacy
and numeracy
experiences
every day.
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SCHOOL READINESS 59
MARCH/APRIL 2008 EXCHANGE
Daily Literacy Checklist: Preschool through Second Grade
Every day teachers:
Structure a thoughtful balance of child-directed and adult-directed activities to enhance oral language (listening and
speaking), writing, and reading.
Read aloud to children from both narrative and information texts; draw childrens attention to print concepts in the process.
Model a variety of writing skills, using teacher-modeled writing activities (such as morning message, sharing the pen,
predictable charts, attribute naming, secret word, secret message, and so forth.)
Have children work in their journals, producing illustrations and related writing based on individual skill levels.
Encourage children to use developing literacy skills for real purposes: to communicate with others; to obtain information; and
to read what interests them for enjoyment.
Design and maintain at least two engaging literacy-focused learning centers during each learning center time; make sure at
least one group time has a literacy focus.
Integrate books and other print materials in all learning centers in the room.
Conduct a small-group mini workshop on literacy skills, teaching some aspect of the alphabetic principle, phonemic
awareness, letter-sound association, letter-grapheme association, comprehension, or concept of print.
Use childrens names, familiar songs, nursery rhymes, poems, and finger plays to teach literacy skills and concepts such as
alliteration, rhyming, and letter sounds.
Have at least one brief conversation with each child to develop rapport, learn what children are interested in, and extend
their oral language skills.
Provide plenty of opportunities for children to talk and work together cooperatively in small groups.
Model and encourage good communication skills, such as complete sentences, good eye contact, clear speech, and correct
grammar.
Make sure classrooms are clean and well organized and structured so that children can easily and independently access and
return literacy-related materials.
Create print rich environments in which children read, respond to, and create meaningful print.
Employ useful assessment skills to make sure children are learning, including periodic vocabulary and language assess-
ments, teacher-developed checklists of desired outcomes, dated work samples for comparison, and child self-appraisal forms
and checklists.
Source: Soderman, A. K., Gregory, K. S., & McCarty, L. T. (2006). Scaffolding Emergent Literacy: A Child-Centered Approach for
Preschool through Grade 5. Boston: Allyn & Bacon; Soderman, A. K. & Farrell, P. (2008). Creating Literacy-Rich Preschools
and Kindergartens. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
These guidelines were created by Anne K. Soderman, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Family & Child Ecology,
Michigan State University. Used with permission.
experiences every day. They also take great care to
scaffold childrens progress from simple to more
complex understandings and skills. Teachers who are
less deliberate and less informed about literacy and
numeracy are also less able to enhance childrens
learning (Mellor, 2007).
Children benefit
when teachers pay special attention
to literacy and numeracy every day
Effective early childhood educators employ purposeful
plans and strategies to:
stimulate and support childrens interest in literacy
and numeracy
structure literacy and mathematics rich classroom
environments
design activities that promote the development of
literacy- and numeracy-related thinking and
concepts
take advantage of incidental opportunities to
enhance literacy and mathematical
understandings.
More specific ways teachers accomplish this every day
are described in the classroom guidelines that follow.
A useful staff development activity is to have pairs of
teachers use the checklists to reflect on their current
classroom practices. The checklists also can be used
as part of peer observations as well as to identify
A useful staff
development
activity is to
have pairs of
teachers use
the checklists
to reflect on
their current
classroom
practices.
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60 SCHOOL READINESS
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Daily Numeracy Checklist: Preschool through Second Grade
Every day teachers:
Provide a rich variety of informal opportunities as well as more formal activities for children to think mathematically.
Limit time children spend doing mathematics as an isolated activity; integrate mathematical tools and problems in a variety
of learning centers.
Provide various kinds of paper and pencil opportunities for children to practice writing numbers, recording thought processes
and communicating mathematical ideas.
Help children see mathematical thinking as part of the learning of other subject areas by pointing out mathematical
connections as children engage in reading, social studies, science, music, or art activities.
Encourage mathematical play in make believe real life context activities like shopping and cooking, making tools like play
money and measuring cups part of the play environment.
Make available everyday objects like buttons, beans, and blocks for children to count, recognize how many, and consider
questions of greater than and less than.
Post number words and numerals around the classroom and encourage children to make connections between number
words and numerals and to the numbers of objects they represent.
Create opportunities for children to sort, classify, and order a wide variety of objects in a variety of ways.
Design activities where children are asked to recognize, describe, and extend different kinds of patterns.
Model situations that involve adding and subtracting using objects, pictures, and symbols and have children do the same.
Give children opportunities to recognize, name, build, draw, compare, and sort two- and three-dimensional objects.
Encourage children to measure with conventional tools like measuring cups, rulers, and scales as well non-conventional units
of the same size laid end to end, like paper clips or blocks.
Ask children to pose questions and gather data about themselves and their surroundings and represent the data using
pictures, objects, and graphs.
Discuss future events with children as likely or unlikely.
Assess childrens mathematical understandings in multiple ways, including performance tasks, interviews, and observations.
Source: Clements, D., Sarama, J. & DiBiase, A. (Eds.) (2004). Engaging young children in mathematics: Standards for early
childhood mathematics education. Mahweh, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
(2001). Principles and standards for school mathematics. Reston, VA: Author.
These guidelines were created by Ruth Heaton, Ph.D., Department of Teaching, Learning & Teacher Education,
College of Education and Human Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Used with permission.
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what content and strategies staff members might
wish to know more about or pursue in the future.
References
Arthur, L., & Makin, L. (2001). High quality early
literacy programs. Australian Journal of Early
Childhood, 26(2), 19.
Cunha, F., & Heckman, J. (2007). Investing in
Disadvantaged Young Children is Good Economics
and Good Public Policy. Paper presented at the
Telluride Economic Summit on Early Childhood
Investment, Telluride, Colorado, September 9-10.
Fleer, M., & Raban, B. (2005). Literacy and numeracy
that counts from birth to five years: a review of the
literature. Melbourne,
Australia: Department
of Education, Science
and Training: Early
Childhood Learning
Resources.
Fromberg, D. P. (2002).
Play and meaning in
early childhood
education. Boston:
Allyn & Bacon.
Lee, V. E., & Burkham,
D. T. (2002). Inequality
at the starting gate.
Social background
differences in
achievement as children begin school. Washington,
DC: Economic Policy Institute.
Mellor, S. (2007). Australian Education Review #50.
Camberwell, VIC: Australian Council for Educational
Research.
National Center for Education Statistics (2000).
Special Analysis 2000: Entering Kindergarten:
A Portrait of American Children When They Begin
School. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Education.
Soderman, A. K., & Farrell, P. (2008). Creating
Literacy-Rich Preschools and Kindergartens. Boston:
Allyn & Bacon.
The checklists
also can be
used as part
of peer
observations
as well as to
identify what
content and
strategies staff
members might
wish to know
more about or
pursue in the
future.
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Which fundamental experiences do you offer to children?: Ask teachers to analyze and
reflect on how many of the fundamental experiences children need are available in their
classrooms. Push this a little by asking teachers to allot minutes in the day to each
fundamental. Consider the findings and whether teachers feel their plans and schedules need
amending or changing.
Uneven playing field?: Kostelnik points to the significant and lingering differences in the
experiences of poor children as compared to their more well-off peers. Are teachers aware of
this important finding and prepared to do something about it? A candid conversation about the
impact of poverty on childrens growth, development, and learning is a good place to start.
Making the sample checklist fit: Convene teachers to consider the checklists on pages
59 and 60. Then, implement the peer observation suggestion so teachers will feel empowered
to make changes.
Using Beginnings
Workshop
to Train Teachers
by Kay Albrecht
SCHOOL READINESS 61
MARCH/APRIL 2008 EXCHANGE