The Positive Effects of Early Childhood Literacy Mary

The Positive Effects of Early Childhood Literacy Mary Ray

Early Reading • Most children learn to read between kindergarten and second grade. • The influence of parents is the force that drives children to pursue activities and achievements in a variety of fields. • Young children are curious and eager to learn; reading provides a focus and a way to explore their curiosity while providing them with valuable benefits.

Improved Future Education Achievements • As children learn to read early in life, they will gain an attitude towards high achievement, focusing on future education and experiencing feelings of attainment. • Early exposure to books breeds fondness for an activity that children will be more encouraged to do in their own time. • Children will feel that reading is less of a chore and more of a usual part of everyday life, something to be done in enjoyment, their outlook on reading is shaped by their first experiences with books.

Parent/Child Relationships • Parents should teach their children not only the alphabet but also how to use it by instructing them in reading before they enter prekindergarten or kindergarten. • The influence that parents have means that these early moments of instruction, such as teaching the alphabet, will be more internalized and viable. • Parents will be able to strengthen their connection with their children as they instruct them, forging a strong bond and giving their children incentive to pursue literacy.

An Eye on the Future • Silinskas et al. , believe that early experiences associated with literacy, including parents’ habits of reading to their children and children’s interest in books, correspond with future literacy success in the second grade (244). • The strong influence that parents wield over their children means that the child will be focused on retaining information rather than simply learning it because it is what they are supposed to do.

Stronger Focus in a Home Environment • By using this technique for teaching children early, parents will be able to hone in on learning to read in a setting free of social distractions by their peers. • Children will still be able to experience socialization in many ways while also being able to devote adequate time to learning to read, being able to focus better and retain information.

Children Who Struggle with Reading • Learning to read at home can be especially beneficial for children who struggle in with various elements of reading. • The time and attention devoted to a child at home is far more than he or she would receive in a classroom. • George E. Mason and Norma Jean Prater advocate, “Most [early readers] are bright children, but apparently the environmental simulation of interest and provision of aid can enable a child of less than average ability to learn to read before reaching school age” (487).

Shifting Views of Reading • Harlaar et al. believe that reading without having to worry about a grade encourages children to gain better vocabulary, lexical understandings, and refine literacy, which in turn increases viable mental capacity for reading comprehension (2124). • Children will be able to learn at their own pace before entering an educational environment and the lack of pressure will encourage reading to be seen as an enjoyable activity rather than a chore.

Benefits in Testing • When children learn to read before starting elementary school, they receive higher test scores throughout the rest of their education. • Since children will already know how to read, they can focus on sharpening and developing their skills, which will help them gain higher scores on both tests administered by the curriculum and statemandated tests.

Benefits in Spoken Language • A lack of focus on early reading leads to deficiency in phonological awareness. • Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize a spoken word among a variety of other sounds. • Eileen W. Ball and Benita A. Blachman state, “…the statistical relationship between phoneme awareness skills and success in the beginning stages of reading and writing is quite robust” (51).

Benefits in the Language Base • As children gain proficiency in spoken language, their skills in oral speaking reinforces and uplifts their entire base of language. • There is a strong relationship between oral language and written language, and improvement in one means improvement in the other. • Thelma E. Weeks shares her research “There is a qualitative difference in the total language of the child who has learned to read early. The total language base is enriched” (521).

Improved Knowledge of Literature, Vocabulary, and Subject Matter • By learning to read, children will inherently gain knowledge through reading books, regardless of the subject matter. • Children will quickly learn and retain spelling and basic grammar rules. • Parents can expose their children to a variety of educational information.

Critical Areas • Learning to read advances phonemic awareness, fluency, spelling, phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension. • If children are taught to read at home, parents can ensure that their children fully understand comprehend these skills. • Harlaar et al. notes that, “[c]onversely, children who make a good start in reading are likely to seek out opportunities to read, and these opportunities promote their reading development” (2124).

Conclusion • The three areas of clear impact provided by early reading are improved parent/child relationships, greater achievement in future education, and advancements in critical areas. • The critical areas include phoneme awareness, literacy, reading comprehension, and knowledge of various subjects • Parents should be strongly urged to teach their children to read at the ages of two/three before they begin kindergarten.

Works Cited • Ball, Eileen W. , and Benita A. Blachman. “Does Phoneme Awareness Training in Kindergarten Make a Difference in Early Word Recognition and Developmental Spelling? ” Reading Research Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 1, 1991, pp. 49– 66. JSTOR, www. jstor. org/stable/747731. Accessed 13 Mar. 2021. • Harlaar, Nicole, et al. “Associations between reading Achievement and Independent Reading in Early Elementary School: A Genetically Informative Cross-Lagged Study. ” Child Development, vol. 82, no. 6, Nov. /Dec. 2011, pp. 2123 -137. JSTOR, www. jstor. org/stable/41289904.

Works Cited • Mason, George E. , and Norma Jean Prater. “Early Reading and Reading Instruction. ” Elementary English, vol. 43, no. 5, 1966, pp. 483– 527. JSTOR, www. jstor. org/stable/41386029. Accessed 13 Mar. 2021. • Silinskas, Gintautas, et al. “Mother’s Reading Related Activities at Home and Learning to Read During Kindergarten. ” European Journal of Psychology of Education, vol. 25, no. 2, Jun. 2010, pp. 243 -64. JSTOR, www. jstor. org/stable/23421538.

Works Cited • Weeks, Thelma E. “Early Reading Acquisition as Language Development. ” Language Arts, vol. 56, no. 5, 1979, pp. 515 -21. JSTOR, www. jstor. org/stable/41404840. Accessed 13 Mar. 2021.