Beginning Literacy with Language: Young Children Learning at Home and School.

TLDR

The book examines parent‑child and teacher‑child interactions in the homes and schools of more than 70 diverse children. The authors conduct the Home School Study of Language and Literacy Development, observing 3‑ to 5‑year‑old children in home and classroom settings and analyzing transcripts to link early interactions with kindergarten language and literacy outcomes. The study shows that specific conversational patterns in home and classroom contexts predict kindergarten language and literacy skills, and offers practical strategies for parents and teachers to enhance these interactions.

Abstract

In this fascinating book, you'll travel into the homes and schools of over 70 young children from diverse backgrounds and observe parent-child and teacher-child interactions. Through research gathered in the Home School Study of Language and Literacy Development, the authors share with you the relationship they've found between these critical, early interactions and children's kindergarten language and literacy skills. You'll explore both the home and school environments of children at ages 3, 4, and 5 and see how families talk to their young children during everyday activities like book reading, toy play, and mealtimes. You'll also examine children's conversations throughout the classroom day and consider how teachers strive to support children's development. In each chapter, you'll see how the data was collected read actual transcripts of parent-child and teacher-child interactions recognize how these interactions relate to later development get suggestions for supporting children's language and literacy development learn how these findings play out in the lives of four of the children in the study Find out how young children's home and classroom experiences during the preschool years are related to their kindergarten language and literacy skills, and discover the kinds of conversations that make a difference.