Creating a Print Rich Environment in the home.
Researchers have discovered that children who are introduced to literacy skills very early in life enjoy a head start over their peers by the time they start school. Parents, who read to their young ones, would have been fostering their children’s understanding of print and reading. It has been found that these children are generally more successful academically since what takes place in the home is in sync with what is taking place at school.
Any parent who wants to give the young child a head start academically, need to create a print rich environment in the home. A print rich environment is one which displays a variety of books, poems, writing tools, charts and labeled items for the benefit of the learner. This type of environment allows the child to become immersed in a world of print at a very early age. Parents can use the child’s bedroom as the nucleus for the print rich world. To do this, Shelby Moore (2010) suggested the following tips:
Researchers have discovered that children who are introduced to literacy skills very early in life enjoy a head start over their peers by the time they start school. Parents, who read to their young ones, would have been fostering their children’s understanding of print and reading. It has been found that these children are generally more successful academically since what takes place in the home is in sync with what is taking place at school.
Any parent who wants to give the young child a head start academically, need to create a print rich environment in the home. A print rich environment is one which displays a variety of books, poems, writing tools, charts and labeled items for the benefit of the learner. This type of environment allows the child to become immersed in a world of print at a very early age. Parents can use the child’s bedroom as the nucleus for the print rich world. To do this, Shelby Moore (2010) suggested the following tips:
• Label all the furniture in the child’s room at the child’s eye level.
• Provide lots of age appropriate books of different genre for the child. E.g picture books, animal books numbers, fairytale etc.
• Provide material for drawing writing and colouring.
• Place charts on the wall with colours, alphabet, nursery rhymes, calendars etc.
• Provide music
• Provide puzzles, games and flash cards.
Every effort must be made to make the room fun and inviting. The child must be able to interact with the material provided in the environment and be able to experience that learning is fun.
http://community.leapfrog.com/t5/Kindergarten-Teacher-Shelby/Tips-for-Creating-a-Print-Rich-Environment-at-Home/ba-p/3842
This information would be useful for Reading Specialists to help parents get involved in their children's learning in a simple but meaningful way.
ReplyDeleteTeachers are always mindful of the fact that parents do not get involved in their childrens learning,the information would help parents to get on board.
Early reading intervention tend to yeild positive results, the home could very well be the first classroom and parents the first teachers.