Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, but did you know that November is also National Native American Heritage month? During this time, be intentional about using terms that value and respect all people and avoid stereotyping by planning lessons and using materials that celebrate Native American heritage and traditions. For example, steer away from creating “Indian headbands”… Read more »
Tag: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
Pretending Can Build Literacy Skills
One of the many joys of being an early childhood educator is watching and developing children’s growing imaginations. Symbolic behavior play is related to the understanding of a representational system like written language and language behavior in dramatic play is related to literate language (Mielonen, Paterson, 2009). Children are also developing their oral language skills… Read more »
Literacy Rich Environments
Over the last few weeks, this blog has shared lots of strategies for developing young children’s literacy skills during different stages of their development (emergent, early reading and writing, and pre-reading and writing). Research affirms that a key strategy for promoting the development of all 5 key literacy skills [ 1) phonological awareness, 2) phonemic… Read more »
Love, Language, and Learning: The Role of Relationships in Developing Literacy Skills
While much attention is given to early literacy educational practices and programs, the impact of positive relationships between caregivers and young children on their literacy development cannot be overstated. Positive relationships are the foundation of nurturing and supportive environments that support early literacy skills to flourish. Research indicates that the frequency and quality of interactions… Read more »
Classroom Design with Literacy in Mind
Designing early childhood classrooms that support literacy skills development requires thoughtful organization, intentional material placement, and establishing routines that include literacy activities. Let’s take a closer look at some strategies that create settings that support the development of children’s literacy skills: Label Items: Label children’s personal items and classroom materials with pictures and words. Labeling… Read more »
Meeting Everyone’s Needs- Foundational Principle 6: Family Engagement
If you haven’t yet, be sure to visit this original blog post which shared 6 evidence-based foundational principles for supporting all children to be successful in their early childhood environments: https://blogs.iu.edu/earlyliteracy/2025/04/25/all-really-does-mean-all/ . The sixth and final foundational principle is Family Engagement. It requires engaging with families and supporting them to use evidence-based early literacy practices… Read more »
ALL really does mean ALL: Early Literacy Practices that Meet Everyone’s Needs
All children are unique. They each have learning differences, learning style preferences and develop at their own pace. Even so, we can support all children to achieve high outcomes by embracing the strengths that exist in the broad range of human experience, including children’s abilities, socio-economic backgrounds, and cultures. An extensive literature review identified 6 … Read more »
Words, words, words!
Yes, we know, vocabulary development is important! But just how important is it? Research tells us that “vocabulary is very important to reading comprehension; readers need to know the meanings of individual words to understand the text as a whole” and “oral language is a predictor of a range of expressive skills beyond comprehension, including… Read more »
Supporting Early Literacy by Leveraging Cultural Diversity During the Holidays and Beyond
Celebrating holidays in early childhood settings is not only fun and exciting, it offers additional opportunities to develop children’s early literacy skills by connecting lessons to occasions occurring both in the context of their daily lives and cultures and those around the world. Holiday literacy lessons involve books, dramatic play, drawing/writing, cooking, crafts, games, etc. … Read more »
From Twinkle, Twinkle to ABC: The Magic of Music in Early Literacy
Music plays an important role in supporting early literacy development. Research shows that integrating music into early childhood education can enhance phonological awareness, vocabulary acquisition, and motor skills which are foundational to reading and writing. Let’s take a closer look at how music fosters early literacy skills. Music Promotes Phonological Awareness Phonological awareness is the… Read more »