Interacting with professionals about early literacy

I spoke with a 2 year old teacher, Jennifer, about early literacy the other day at work. She told me that she thinks early literacy is very important. In the 2 year old room they sing the ABC song and when they sing she points to the letters. So at this early age they are being exposed to the letters by song. This will give them the opportunity to find the letters in their enviornment. They also read lots of books. When they read the teacher points to the title and points to the words, so now the children are being exposed to words as well. The 2 year olds also are singing their color song and spelling out the color words as they sing, so they are also learning that puting together letters makes words. In the 2 year old room they are also learning words and what they mean, such as door, window, etc.

My 3 year old teacher, Janice, also felt that early literacy is very important. In the 3 year old room the teacher introduces 3 letters a month. She reads a story about the letters, the children learn the sound the letter makes, learns words that start with that letter and they also find things in their environment that start with that letter, as well as trace the letter with their finger. The 3 year old teacher will also have the children find the letter of the week in the books at library time. All of these things are building early literacy skills for the child which will be added on in pre-k. Janice will also read to the children and point to the title and the words, so now they see words and how letters together create words.

My quote to share is: Pre-k teachers lay the foundation for all learning, which will be built upon in the child's school career.