What the Research in Early Literacy Says
- The goals and expectations for young children’s achievement in reading and writing should be developmentally appropriate –challenging but achievable – with sufficient adult support. Rather than having a maturationist view of young children’s development, teachers in Lower Primary understand that the presence of high quality experiences throughout the early childhood years positively affects the development of literacy.
- Reading and writing acquisition is best conceptualized as a developmental continuum rather than as an all-or-nothing phenomenon. Children do not progress along this developmental continuum in rigid sequence, but instead each child exhibits a unique pattern and timing in acquiring skills and understanding related to reading and writing.
- Literacy develops within the framework of real-life activities. Teachers emphasize the meaningful or purposeful bases of early literacy and build upon what the child already knows.
- The ability to read and write well does not develop naturally, without careful planning and instruction. Children need regular and active interactions with print. The role of an adult, who is supportive, interested and engaged, provides the scaffolding for the child’s development of greater skill and understanding, is critical to this process of learning.
- The regular and systematic use of multiple ways to assess and monitor children’s progress in reading and writing development is essential to ensuring each child’s progress. In the Lower Primary, teachers assess literacy development in numerous ways throughout the year.
