Support for Learning at Home

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Supporting Young Children’s Learning at Home

Families and Literacy:

Families affect language and literacy learning in a variety of ways – before enrollment in early education programs and after formal education begins. When families act, react, and interact with their babies during feeding, diapering, and play activities, they are influencing literacy development. Responding to a baby’s needs, actions, and expressions with conversation and other exchanges provides opportunities for children to hear a wide variety of sounds. As language develops, families continue to support literacy through conversations; reading together; providing books and other materials; teaching about signs and symbols in the community; taking trips to libraries, museums, and bookstores, and labeling items in the child’s environment. Family literacy is an important component of school success, and it has been reported that children in low-income families are read to as little as 25 hours prior to entering first grade while their peers from middle- income families have been read to for more than 1,250 hours. It has been advised that interactive literacy programs be put in place that train parents in being their child’s primary teacher and becoming full partners in their education. Families can encourage and support language development through games. With very young children, peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake can be played. Formal and informal word play such as “I Spy” with preschoolers and kindergartners, and board games with elementary-aged children, all enhance language development. Play enriches children’s vocabulary, helping them develop language skills by using contextual clues, and children are given valuable experiencing practicing literacy while playing. While engaging in everyday activities, families support language development. Families can discuss television shows, asking questions about what children think is happening, having conversations about program content, and expanding understanding on what is being presented in the show. Family members can encourage children to look at traffic signs and license plates, spell and say town names, read numbers on exit and speed limit signs, and have conversations about landmarks while driving in the car. Car time is also a great opportunity to sing songs and play word and memory games. Early childhood educators can help families understand language and literacy development in a number of ways. They can send home newsletters for parents that contain ideas on how to encourage literacy development at home, host school programs for parents related to language development, and provide other resources, such as DVDs, web sites about language and literacy strategies. It’s important that teachers reach out to the families in their program and help guide them towards language and literacy activities they can use at home to help their children achieve academic success.

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Families and Science: Sharing information with families about how to support scientific learning at home can be done through newsletters, workshops, e-mail, or displays at school. To help families develop and support scientific learning in their young child, the following major points should be conveyed:

 Children learn science best when it is active (e.g., exploring magnets, cars on ramps, water play).

 Children learn science best when they have opportunities to talk and work with other people.

 Children learn science best when they are the scientist (not just a science word learner).

 Children learn science best when the topic of exploration is related to their own experiences (e.g., food, plants, wheels, care of animals).

 Children learn science best when adults listen to their ideas and questions and then respond to and expand on children’s interests.

When teachers help families learn how to support science learning at home, it is important to provide them with information about how science learning occurs at school. When families understand how the two environments work together, they can better support scientific explorations at home. Families and Mathematics: It is also important to help family members understand how young children gain mathematical concepts and skills. Activities such as family math nights and take-home activities are great resources to support families. Math packs can be developed to send home that include math games, manipulative materials such as Legos, blocks, and shapes, graph paper, and other instruments to support mathematics and literacy skills. Families and Social Studies: As previously discussed, creating effective family partnerships in any subject area needs understanding and appreciation of families’ diverse histories, cultures, and traditions. Building home social studies activities around these differences encourages family involvement. Children can draw maps of their house or neighborhood (geography); make charts about what they “need” or “want” (beginning economics); and make a timeline or collage with photos of family and friends (family history/historical understanding). Families and Health, Safety, Nutrition, and Movement: Early childhood programs can provide information to parents and families regarding the health and safety of their children. Most families have routine doctor and dentist visits and practice safety while crossing the street, riding in a car, or riding a bike. Some practices are not universal, however, so sometimes families need additional information about basic health and safety. Families and schools often find they must act in partnership for children’s mental health needs. For children to succeed, they must not only be physically healthy, but psychologically healthy, as well. Teachers and programs need to help families understand that psychological health is

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founded on positive relationships with caregivers but may also have a biological or neurological basis. When early childhood professionals help families understand these needs, children are more likely to get the services needed to support their emotional health. Social and Emotional Foundations of Children’s Learning: Social and emotional development supports relationship-building, competence, and success in life. Family members influence children’s confidence, enthusiasm for learning, self-control, and cooperation. Sharing information on this developmental domain increases family understanding about effective ways to interact and build positive relationships with their children, which is essential for academic success. Teachers can make suggestions, such as the following, to help parents support their child’s social and emotional literacy:

 Read aloud stories. Be sure to engage children in conversation as you read to them.

 Select books that address areas of social-emotional development, such as sharing and making friends.

 Use common print materials, such as food labels and recipes.

Suggestions provided for teachers to involve families include:

 Sending newsletters with suggestions for family activities that support children’s social and emotional development, including recommended books and shared activities.

 Offer themed, take-home literacy kitsfor families and children to share.

 Plan and invite families to events such as read alouds, storytelling, and age-appropriate dramatics that focus on social and emotional skills.

 Suggest ways that typical errands might be discussed with young children to support both literacy and social and emotional development.

Teachers, families, and other community members can be involved in activities that support children’s learning without resorting to rote drill or memorization. Early childhood educators can teach families about the thought processes of young children to better enable them to relate to their children’s ideas and conceptual frameworks. When teachers, families, and community members build partnerships to support children’s learning at home and at school, greater success is bound to happen!