Research and Articles

Research & Articles: Promoting Literacy Through Whole Language

Marilyn Lopes
Extension Specialist, Family Life Education
Cape Cod Cooperative Extension
University of Massachusetts

Teaching children to read, write, and speak well is part of literacy training. Without these skills, children will have a difficult time in school and in later life. A new educational concept called whole language combines reading, writing, and speaking into one area of emphasis. Whole language is a holistic approach that enhances the abilities that youngstersare already developing.

Children have a variety of reading and writing skills when they go into day care or preschool programs. Whole language supports these skills and helps to advance them.

Whole language provides a print-rich environment for children to work in. Scribbling, reversed letters, invented spellings, creative punctuation, and reading and writing "mistakes" all help children move toward control of the language process.

Whole language provides a more comfortable environment than the rigid skills-based programs that leave some children far behind. Traditional programs may move slower readers to lower tracks. Once a child is identified as a low-level reader, he may get all low-level materials ratherthan the quality literature whole-language supporters advocate.

PRINT-RICH ENVIRONMENTS

You can help children in your care learn language skills by providing a print-rich environment.

BOOKS should be placed in all areas of the home, not just in the library corner. A soft space - bean bag seats, pillows, rocking chairs - creates an area where individuals or small groups of children can read or be read to.

WALLS should be adorned with poems, chants, finger plays, songs, experience charts, etc. Position the charts low enough so that children can view them and interact with them. Have a pointer or "reader friends" available to encourage children to read them.

COMMON THINGS such as puzzles, pencils, and scissors should be labeled. Not only will you be connecting print to real things, but you'll also be establishing some organizational routines for the children to follow.

COMMENTS FROM CHILDREN should be written down so they can see that writing has a purpose. Make signs, write notes to parents or other children, make books, and record daily experiences on newsprint paper. Include pads, notebooks, pencils, and markers in every area of your home so that children will be encouraged to write.

LISTENING CENTERS with favorite stories and tapes should be available. Try to choose some stories that have a repetitive pattern and predictable text. You'll find the children reading them by themselves. Record yourself reading some of the stories; the children love to hear someone they know reading the story.

WRITING CENTERS should provide a variety of materials that can be added to or changed throughout the year. Include fat and thin markers, stencils, alphabet stamps, lined and unlined paper, small books and pads, manipulative letters, labels for common objects, a typewriter, pencil
sharpener, and chalk and a small chalkboard.

ACTIVITIES THAT PROMOTE LITERACY

Incorporating these activities into your daily schedule will promote literacy for preschoolers.

1. Reading to children every day.

2. Singing songs and learning fingerplays.

3. Writing what children say.

4. Providing a variety of opportunities to use language.

5. Displaying books and providing the time and place for children to explore.

6. Encouraging children to write.

7. Surrounding children with printed materials, signs, and posters.

DOCUMENT USE/COPYRIGHT
National Network for Child Care - NNCC. Part of CYFERNET, the National Extension Service Children Youth and Family Educational Research Network. Permission is granted to reproduce these materials in whole or in part for educational purposes only (not for profit beyond the cost of reproduction) provided that the author and Network receive acknowledgment and this notice is included:

Reprinted with permission from the National Network for Child Care - NNCC. (1994). Promoting literacy through whole language. In M. Lopes (Ed.) CareGiver News (October, p.1). Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Cooperative Extension.

Any additions or changes to these materials must be preapproved by the author.

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