"The basic building block of good communications is the feeling that every human being is unique and of value." - Unknown KnowPreschoolers in your care need daily opportunities to participate in activities that help them learn new skills and practice existing ones in fun, stimulating, and supportive environments. As you learned in Lesson 1, effective communication skills are integral to children’s self-expression, to their development of social relationships, and to their learning. In your daily work in preschool, you should plan and embed opportunities for teaching language and communication skills throughout the day. This is essential for promoting language and communication in young children. Show
Reflecting on Language and Communication in PreschoolKnowing that your environment contributes greatly to children’s learning, one of your starting points can be to reflect on the language and communication development of the children in your class. You can start with observations, communication with families, the developmental screening and assessment information you collect, and questions about each child’s development and the interests and discoveries they are making. For example:
By asking these questions, in collaboration with families, you have an opportunity to document and learn how each child develops language and communication skills while considering other areas of development, culture, and temperament. This process can help you and families gather information to support the planning for and development of responsive environments as preschoolers develop language skills and learn ever more complex ways to communicate their needs and wants. Supporting Communication for Preschoolers: Creating Natural Opportunities for LanguageYou have amazing opportunities to spark language and conversations in your preschool classroom. There are countless times throughout the day for you to encourage children to talk, read, and write. The first step in creating natural opportunities for communication is getting to know the children in your classroom and how they communicate or use language. The questions in the previous section will help you understand the diverse communicators in your classroom. After you have gathered information about how children communicate in your classroom, you should use it to make decisions about experiences you want to provide or strategies you want to use. Think about the daily routines and experiences or activities taking place in your classroom: what opportunities for communication are natural in those routines? For example, during snack time, you can ask children questions about their favorite snacks, ask what they like to eat at home, or engage them in conversations about colors, textures, or tastes of different snacks. You may also provide them with choices of food items, or arrange the environment in ways that promote children’s communication. You can, for example, provide children with smaller portions of snack items to create opportunities for them to use language to ask for more if they want. You may also purposefully place some food items out of their reach so they can ask you, or peers for them. With careful planning, you can adapt and embed communication strategies into multiple experiences and routines in your preschool classroom. As children in your classroom are learning new skills, you will be continuously assessing their progress and adapting your strategies to continue to promote their development. Providing a Language- and Communication-Rich Classroom EnvironmentConsider the following components of language- and communication-rich classroom environments: Responsive adults: Respond to children’s language and build on their ideas and interests. It’s more important to focus on their ideas than on their grammar. If children use words incorrectly, simply model appropriate language and continue the conversation. For example, if Julia says, “My grandma gived me a book,” you could simply respond, “It’s so nice your grandma gave you a book. What’s it about?” Frequent use of developmentally appropriate models: Children need to hear, listen to, and use language throughout the day. By using language that is at or slightly above the child’s current level, you can promote development. Being aware of the level of complexity of the language you use is one of the most important things to remember when communicating with young children. For example, with young 3-year-olds, you might use three- to four-word sentences with simple vocabulary words to ensure that children can understand and participate in the conversation. As children get older, you can use more words in each sentence and introduce new vocabulary words. This means that you use language throughout your day and encourage children to use language too. Intentionality: Intentional teachers purposefully select and use appropriate language models and literacy with children. This means that during your planning, and considering children’s needs, you make decisions about words or sounds to use, new vocabulary to introduce, how to describe events, materials, or feelings, or how to adapt activities and experiences to address the special learning needs of children in your classroom. Environmental print and books: Remember to provide multiple opportunities for children to read and see books and print around the classroom. This includes reading frequently to children, labeling classroom spaces or objects, labeling in different languages that represent the backgrounds of children in your classroom, having lots of books readily accessible to children all around the classroom, rotating books and materials based on children’s interests and experiences, creating an inviting area in your classroom where children can read quietly or with other children, providing activities that involve drawing and writing, and embedding experiences that involve playing with sounds, words, and letters in activities and routines. Family involvement: Acknowledging that families are children’s first and most significant teachers is critical for your work in preschool. As highlighted in Lesson Three, involving families in children’s communication development is essential for learning. This means developing relationships with the families of children in your classroom. In Lesson Three, you can find a list of practices that help foster relationships with families. Repetition: Using repetition means that you provide children with frequent language models, particularly when teaching new vocabulary words. In language-rich classrooms, repetition happens throughout the day. Teachers use the same words in fun ways (i.e., through songs or games) to describe daily routines or events, label feelings or materials, etc. Repetition ensures children have varied and multiple opportunities to learn new words or new uses of words. Repetition is also important when teaching new concepts. Children need time and practice to learn new skills such as letter recognition, rhyming, counting and sorting, or print awareness. To master a skill, children need to experience the concept multiple times across multiple domains. Refer to the Learn section of this lesson for examples of instructional techniques you can use in your classroom to promote children’s communication and skill development. Supporting Communication for All ChildrenSome preschoolers in your class may have conditions that affect their language and communication development, including developmental delays, autism, neurological and perceptual disorders, or vision, hearing, speech, or language impairments. Children with Individualized Education Programs (IEP) have a specific plan to help them meet their personal goals, and very often these children will need changes or adaptations to daily routines, the classroom environment, and curriculum. The Kids Included Together (KIT) program can be a valuable resource for ideas. Below is additional information to consider as you continue to plan for responsive and engaging interactions, environments and experiences that support the preschoolers in your class. Use different ways to communicate information with children. For example, visuals like picture schedules or photos showing steps of handwashing provide children with a sense of predictability, and they provide opportunities for interactions with print. Other children may need different supports. For children with hearing impairments, you may have to adjust the speed or sound of your voice, speaking more clearly or at a slower pace. You may also have to check more often to see if children understood what you said. Children with visual impairments may use Braille, large print, or big books. Other children may require the use of assistive technology. This may include equipment such as communication devices that enable them to explore their surroundings and interact with others. As you have been reading throughout this course, it is critical that you get to know the children in your classroom to be able to support their successful participation in your program experiences. Make sure all children and families feel welcome and involved. The Kids Included Together (KIT) program can be a valuable resource for ideas. You can also consider Building Blocks and Kara’s Kit. These resources from the Council for Exceptional Children Division for Early Childhood provide practical, real world ways to help children succeed in their environments. See the Resources and Reference list for information about these materials. Keep in mind that children who have difficulties communicating do not necessarily have disabilities or special learning needs. You may need to make accommodations or modifications depending on children’s skills and experiences and what is developmentally appropriate. Meaningful Book-Reading and Story-Telling Practices in PreschoolReading books and telling stories are important ways to support young children’s communication and language skills. Book-reading and story-telling experiences promote a variety of skills in young children including:
Consider the following when selecting and using books in your preschool classroom:
Consider the following strategies and adaptations to address the needs of children with special learning needs or children who are dual language learners during book-reading:
Developing Language Through Media LiteracyThe use of digital technology and non-screen media is quickly becoming an important tool with which we form our personal identities, build relationships, and express our values. Like traditional forms of literacy, media literacy helps children develop new skills and attitudes, expand their creative thinking, and become effective communicators in today’s world. Consider the following actions to promote media literacy skills, knowledge, and habits in children and youth (Rogow, 2022):
Communication and language development at all stages is a complex process and involves other areas of development, such as cognitive skills, and is enhanced by input from the environment (family, caregivers, peers, experiences, activities, etc.). Communication and language help us think, learn, problem-solve, remember and understand what we experience. SeeCommunication Every Day All Day!Video not availableWatch this video to see teachers embedding language and communication in daily experiences and routines.Book-reading and Story-telling ExperiencesVideo not availableWatch this video to see teachers using books and story-telling in preschool.DoCommunication- and language-rich environments are characterized by intentional and frequent use of developmentally appropriate spoken and written language by children and adults. In your daily interactions with children in preschool consider the following:
References & Resources Berk, L. E. (2013). Child development (9th ed.). Pearson Education Inc. Byington, T. & Kim, Y. (2017). Promoting Preschoolers’ Emergent Writing. Young Children, 72(5), 74-82. Chandler, L. K., Young, R. M., Nylander, D., Shields, L., Ash, J., Bauman, B., Summers, D. (2008). Promoting early literacy skills within daily activities and routines in preschool classrooms. Young Exceptional Children, 11(2), 2-16. Cooper, P. J., & Simonds, C. (1999). Communication for the Classroom Teacher. Pearson Education Inc. Council for Exceptional Children: Division for Early Childhood. http://www.dec-sped.org/ Edwards, C. C., & Da Fonte, A. (2012). The 5-Point Plan: Fostering successful partnerships with families of students with disabilities. Teaching Exceptional Children, 44, 6-13. Milbourne, S. A., & Campbell, P. H. (2007). CARA's kit: Creating adaptations for routines and activities. Child and Family Studies Research Programs, Thomas Jefferson University. National Association for the Education of Young Children (2014). Principles of Effective Practice: Two Way Communication. https://www.naeyc.org/principles-effective-family-engagement National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (2012). Early Childhood Generalist Standards for teachers of ages 3-8 (3rd ed.). National Communication Association (2014). What is Communication? https://www.natcom.org/discipline/ Ramsey, R. D. (2009). How to Say the Right Thing Every Time: Communicating well with students, staff, parents, and the public. Corwin Press. Rogow, F. (2022). Start with Wonder, Then Add Inquiry: Developing Young Children’s Media Literacy. The National Association for the Education of Young Children. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/winter2022/wonder-and-inquiry Sandall, S.R. and Schwartz, I. (2002) Building Blocks for Teaching Preschoolers with Special Needs. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 2002. Trawick-Smith, J. W. (2014). Early Childhood Development: A Multicultural Perspective, (6th ed.). Pearson Education Inc. Which of the following is the best way to help students develop reading fluency?The direct approach: Repeated readings. The method of repeated reading has the best track record for improving fluency. Fluency depends on getting many more words into sight vocabulary. When children are decoding words and self-correcting in context, they are adding sight vocabulary.
What is one major factor affecting language development?What is one major factor affecting language development? socioeconomic status.
What are the three primary components of fluency?This process begins with assessments of the component pieces of fluency: prosody, accuracy, and rate.
When a child struggles with speech and language development the professional?Speech-language pathologists can work directly with children and their parents, caregivers, and teachers. Having a language or speech delay or disorder can qualify a child for early intervention (for children up to 3 years of age) and special education services (for children aged 3 years and older).
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