DESCRIBE THE INFLUENCES OF
PERCEPTUAL-SENSORIAL, MEMORY, REPRESENTATIONAL-SYMBOLIC &
COMMUNICATIVE-LINGUISTIC THINKING ON YOUNG CHILDREN’S LITERACY AND NUMERICAL
LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Provide a thorough account of these
developmental influences, supported by key theorists frameworks, literature
&/or research.
WEEK 9 - PARTICIPANT – What does this look like to me? - updated
TAGS: Inter-relationships
with learning, literacy, listening, reading, interconnections, mathematical
skills, problem-solving, naturalistic experiences, informal learning, adult
guided learning, Zone of Proximal Development, Piaget, Vygotsky, Socio-culture, Bronfenbrenner, Microsystem, Mesosystem, Exosystem and Macrosystem.
This
week I wanted to explore how I can introduce young children to participate in
literacy and numeracy activities, both at home and while attending childcare
settings.
WHAT?
The
first article I chose was titled “Investigating Toddlers’ and Parents’
Storybook Reading During Morning Transition” by Lee (2010). I chose this
article because I felt it was interesting and linked in well with this weeks’
topic looking at young children as the participants in reading.
The
second article I chose was titled “Using Problem Solving to Assess Young
Children’s Mathematics Knowledge” By Charlesworth and Leali (2011). I
chose this article because it gave positive examples of how children learn
through playing.
This post has been updated with additional information from -
Laura Berk, (2013). Child development. (9th ed.). I found this book to be very useful and helpful in adding additional information to support my findings.
Geist, (2009). Building a knowledge base and learning to reflect. In Children Are Born Mathematicians: Supporting Mathematical Development, Birth to Age 8. I found this information to be helpful in supporting my writing.
SO WHAT?
Young
children’s literacy does not just develop in isolation. Children learn
through exploring and participating in new things, which include: observing,
listening and experiencing activities with other children. Bronfenbrenner
discovered that children develop with a variety of social contexts and that it
is important to investigate the interrelationships when children begin to
learn, and make these connections between home and in childcare settings.
Berk
(2013), also identified that Bronfenbrenner spoke about three systems that are
heavily intertwined together. The
innermost circle is the individual microsystem which relates to the child and
the immediate environment.
The
mesosystem connects the child among immediate settings such as immediate
family, childcare centre and neighborhood playgrounds.
The
exosystem is the social settings that affect the child but the child is not
directly involved examples include extended family, friends and neighbours,
workplace and community health services.
The
final circle is Macrosystem which focuses on values, laws, customs and
resources of culture that affect the inner connections of the circle.
Children’s
learning can be further enhanced through shared storybook reading. This
daily activity provides a warm positive interaction between the parent and it
is often a comforting activity for the child.
Children’s
curiosity also drives them to gain many literacy related experiences, and the
ability to find something that the child is interested in, can be a great way
for parents and educators to further explore the child’s interests and open
their world around them. Jean
Piaget called this curiosity cognitive developmental theory. Piaget was a Swiss cognitive therapist
and believed that children actively constructed knowledge as they manipulate
and explore their world. Piaget’s
believed as the brain develops and children’s experiences expand, they move
through four broad stages of learning.
The first is cognitive development and begins in the sensorimotor stage –
birth – 2 years - the baby uses senses and movement to explore their
world. The next stage is the
Preoperational and occurs between 2- 7 years – preschool children start to use
symbols to represent their sensorimotor discoveries. Language also develops as does the ability to use the
imagination and make-believe play also plays an important role. Concrete operational stage occurs
between ages 7 – 11 years old.
Children begin to be able to reason logically, they are also able to
become more organised. Children
are able to organize objects into class and sub-classes. The final stage is Formal operational
and this occurs from 11 years onwards.
Children have the capacity to think abstractly use systematic reasoning
through adolescents in to adulthood (Berk, 2013).
The
article by Charlesworth and Leali (2012), describes many practical examples of
how young children participate in mathematics throughout their day.
Children
learn through problem solving. Piaget
believed that mathematics provided a stimulating environment for children to
learn, experiment, it gave children freedom to make mistakes and be confronted
by conflicting situations. Piaget identified that when children are confronted
with new information they either assimilate to their already existing ideas or
they have to accommodate new thinking to adapt new information. Disequilibrium is the sense of confusion
a child may experience when they are given new information that contradicts
their expectations. The child
eventually adapts the new information and again uses this to reach the
equilibrium. The child is then
able to use the environment around him to adapt the new information and makes
deeper meaning of the information with the help of others (Giest, 2009).
There are three ways young children can
acquire new concepts through their play, this includes: naturalistic, informal
and adult guided learning.
Naturalistic
experiences are those initiated and controlled by the child, for example
building with blocks, pouring of sand or water. Informal learning occurs
when an older child or adult, provides a comment or a question that causes
previous knowledge to be applied to the current situation.
The
final type of learning is adult guided learning experiences are pre-planned and
involve some direct instruction. This is a great example of Lev Vygotsky’s
theory of the Zone of Proximal Development. Vygotsky was a socio-constructivist and many of his elements
were the same as Jean Piaget.
Vygotsky believed that interaction, sharing values, customs and skills
within a social group – is transmitted from one to another wether this be with
peers, adults or parents, all play an important role in the construction of new
knowledge and brought in the belief that working alongside peers with more
experienced knowledge could perform better than if they were left to figure out
a problem by themselves (Geist, 2009 & Berk, 2013).
For
example the teacher may ask the child to make a pattern, the child may not
understand what a pattern is, however if a teacher or another peer was to sit
next to the child and show them what to do then the child is able to benefit from
that experience.
Assessment
is another important area of mathematics and provides feedback for student,
teacher and parent. Assessment
should be intergrated into daily activities, and should form part of the
structural routine. Assessment is
useful in the early years as it can access the level the child is at, it
provides information for educators and parents to plan for further development
in particular areas if needed or for the child to be extended in other areas
(Charlesworth & Leali 2012).
NOW WHAT?
What implications do I see for future practice?
It
is important that as educators we recognise that young children’s literacy develops
both at home and within childcare settings.
There
is a strong interrelationship between parent-child-teacher and interactions
within the childcare centre in regards to literacy skill development.
Researchers
have identified that young children are more likely to have an increased
motivation for reading, when parents believe that reading is important for
their development, and read to them at home.
Storybook
reading provides children with a secure environment. It should be
encouraged at time of transitions for the parent to come in with their child
and read to them before leaving them at childcare. This research has been
very positive in easing toddlers from home to childcare transition and makes
for a positive day.
Sharing
books during morning transition allows for the child to improve their literacy
skills, seeing books with positive eyes and engaging in independent reading.
Parents and teachers are able to develop positive partnerships with teachers
that support children’s later literacy development.
The
Charlesworth and Leali (2012), reading provides opportunities for regular
numeracy assessment that should be carried out each day. Effective
educators will be able to build on Vygotsky’s ‘Zone of Proximal Development’ in
teaching daily mathematical instructions to young children in childcare
settings.
Assessment
should be gradual and incorporated into everyday tasks. For example an
educator may ask a child to make four balls out of play dough. Then ask
the child to count them. The child is then able to demonstrate the
concept of one-to-one correspondence.
Educators
need to be able to create hands on or problem solving activities for young
children to explore and enhance their mathematical skills on a daily basis.
References:
Berk, L. (2013). Child development. (9th ed.). United
States of America: Pearson Education
Charlesworth, R. and Leali, S.A., 2012. Using Problem Solving to
Assess Young Children's Mathematics Knowledge. Early Childhood Education
Journal, 39(6), pp. 373-382.
Geist, E. (2009). Building a knowledge
base and learning to reflect. In Children Are Born Mathematicians:
Supporting Mathematical Development, Birth to Age 8 (pp. 35-64). Upper
Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.
Lee, B.Y., 2010. Investigating Toddlers' and Parents' Storybook
Reading During Morning Transition. Early Childhood Education Journal, 38(3),
pp. 213-221.
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