unit 2: textbook

communication particularly language plays a major role in children’s learning: (3)

• language is a mechanism for thinking

• language allows children to imagine, create new ideas, share ideas with others

• enriches parent-child relationships as they develop a new way of interacting and provides a remarkable lens into the mind of a young human being

Allison Gopnik on babies: (2)

• babies learn the minute they are born; evidence they learn in the womb

• babies respond to the environment; learning about the environment

Lee on cultural norms & early socialization:

by 10 months old chinese babies look at the nose of their own race faces (it is culturally acceptable to not make eye contact in china - it’s rude to make eye contact) and look at the eyes of other race people

human language is unique: (2)

• it is flexible and productive

• a small number of individually meaningless symbols (sounds/gestures) can be combined according to a set of shared rules to produce an infinite number of messages

5 elements of language:

1. phonology

2. morphology

3. semantics

4. syntax

5. pragmatics

phonology:

the sound system of a language and the rules for combining sounds (or phonemes) to produce meaningful units of speech

morphology:

rules that specify how meaningful words are formed from sounds - a morpheme is the smallest part of a word which provides meaning in that word

semantics:

expressed meaning of words or sentences - many english words have more than one meaning but voice inflection or the way words are combined in a sentence can indicate meaning

syntax:

structure of language or the rules specifying how words and grammatical markers can be combined to produce sentences - in for example, word order can change meaning

pragmatics:

rules or principles for the appropriate use of language in a social context - this includes being aware of subtle differences between words and how different words or sentence structures can be interpreted, these subtleties can indicate the intention of the person speaking

language/communication: (6)

• children begin communication at birth using sounds and gestures

• newborns are prepared for acquiring language;

• preference for mothers voice over other female voices

• preference for native language rhythmicity

• preference for speech over nonspeech

• discriminate words on content vs. function words

motherese/parentese: (3)

• refers to the way that we speak to infants/young children

• we modify our voices and the style of speaking and the content of what we are saying when we speak to young infants

• high pitch; simplified sentences; elongated vowels (very musical)

nurturing relationships include:

interactive; involve touch; exchange speed and interactions; to be responsive to babies’ information

how language develops: babies

communicate by crying, looking towards a voice, cooing (vowel sounds/gurgling), later babbling (adding consonants to vowels) - by 9 months babies start to pay attention to the same object or event when an adult labels/points to it

how language develops: toddlers (12 months-2 years)

use gestures and a few words to express themselves and by the end of this period can use up to 200 words; they understand a growing number of words when spoken and are starting to combine words into two word sentences; they use their own name to refer to self and are starting to use words to influence the behaviour of others

how language develops: age 2

children’s vocabulary is increasing rapidly and they are figuring out word meanings from cues in the environment, and speaking in simple sentences that follow basic syntax

how language develops: age 3

children talk about objects and events not present and the actions of others; they can vary on conversations that have several turns, answer simple questions, ask many questions and call attention to their own actions; their speech is understandable most times, and they use grammar but may make mistakes with words that don’t follow standard form

how language develops: age 4

children use prepositions “on/in/under” and possessive forms of pronouns; they produce elaborate sentences, use correct verb tenses, change tone of voice and sentence structure to accommodate the listener; they remember first and last names, addresses, telephone numbers and are able to verbally solve simple problems; they can recite and single simple songs and rhymes

how language develops: age 5

children often have a vocabulary of 1500 words or more that are used in very complex sentences; they can tell a familiar story from looking at the pictures in a book, define simple words by function and enjoy humour and jokes; they have a growing understanding of irregular syntax and tenses

receptive language:

ability to understand the information around you; what people are saying to you

• ex: first get your juice then your snack

expressive language:

ability to communicate outward; often children can understand really complex words but cannot communicate them outwards

patterns of learning: (4)

1. selective

2. move from simple to complex

3. move from concrete to abstract

4. sequential

selective:

babies around the world make the same babbling and cooing sounds, after about 6 months, they begin to make only the sounds that are related to the languages they hear around them

move from simple to complex:

young children speak single words first then build them into sentences; at age two and a half the child may combine words into sentences; language skills like physical skills build on one another - children learn to kick a ball, bounce it and run with it as separate skills before they can combine these together

move from concrete to abstract:

first words usually name important people such as mommy or daddy and things such as a favourite food - words about feelings and thinking come later

sequential:

babies learn to sit up before they walk, use one word before sentences and focus on one aspect of a problem before learning to focus on several aspects at the same time

play: (4)

• play is essential for optimal development; it enhances every aspect of children’s development and learning

• consistent findings in research about the close relationship between symbolic play and literacy development and good evidence that increasing opportunities for rich symbolic play can have a positive influence on literacy development

• play allows children to make sense and sometimes nonsense of their experiences and discover the intimacy and joy of friendship

• the processes of play and learning stimulate one another in early childhood

young children need a balance of opportunities for different kinds of play…

indoors and outdoors; they need the support of knowledgeable adults and parents who do provide long uninterrupted periods for spontaneous free play; a variety of materials to stimulate different kinds of play; loose parts for play; opportunities for challenge and risk, etc

natural landscapes in the outdoors typically provide: (5)

• rich diverse, multi-sensory experiences

• opportunities for noisy, boisterous, vigorous physically active play

• opportunities for physical challenge and risk taking that are inherent in the value of play

• rough uneven surfaces with opportunities for the development of physical strength, balance and coordination

• natural elements and loose parts that children can combine, manipulate and adapt for their own purposes

numeracy:

aspect of thinking/learning characterized by the ability to work with mathematical concepts and reason with numbers

mathematical concepts:

number relations (quantity and quality), measurements, computation skills, geometry, patterns, probability, and stats

literacy:

the ability to use language in all its forms of communication - listening, talking, reading, writing, music, dance, storytelling, visual arts, drama, digital media

critical literacy:

the suite of skills, dispositions and strategies that enable both teachers and children to challenge texts to become critical consumers and users of information; dissecting information; reflecting to better understand inequity, injustice, unequal power relations in text/communication

digital literacy:

the ability to solve problems using technology in safe, legal and ethically responsible manner, it also means having strong data literacy skills and the ability to engage with emerging technologies

screen time:

time spent with any screen, including television, computers, gaming or mobile devices (smartphones or tablets)

digital media:

includes all content transmitted over the internet or computer networks on all devices

interactive media:

refers to digital and analog materials, including software programs, applications, broadcast and streaming media, some children’s television programming, ebooks, the internet, other forms of content designed to facilitate active and creative use by young children and to encourage social engagement with other children and adults

toolkit involves:

1. how much does it cost

2. how much evidence

3. what kind of difference does it make

social & emotional learning strategies (SEL): (5)

• moderate impact for very low cost based on very limited evidence

• SEL approaches have a positive impact, on average of 3 months additional progress on academic outcomes over the course of a year - this finding however has very low security so practitioners should be especially careful to monitor the efficacy of SEL approaches in their settings

• SEL strategies can have a positive effect on aspects of early literacy and numeracy

• the studies in the toolkit focus primarily on academic outcomes but its important to consider other benefits of SEL interventions - being able to effectively manage emotions and interact with others will be beneficial to children even if it does not translate directly to reading or math scores

• there is evidence that SEL strategies can be effective in early years settings in both primary and nursery schools

self-regulation strategies: (5)

• moderate impact for very low cost based on very limited evidence

• self-regulation strategies have a positive impact + 3 months, on average, and may be a cost-effective approach for raising attainment

• helping young children to talk and think about their own actions and behaviours is likely to help them with not just their learning and social interactions in early years settings but may have a lasting positive impact on later learning at school

• successful approaches include structured programmes as well as more general approaches to develop self regulation skills

• staff are likely to benefit from training or professional development to use programmes and approaches successfully

play-based learning (5)

• moderate impact for a very low cost based on very limited evidence

• play based learning approaches have a moderate positive impact +4 months on learning outcomes, however the evidence base is very limited

• play based learning includes a wide range of approaches across a range of environments, which includes staff led activities and free play - more research has taken place on staff led/guided play

• similar positive effects have been identified in early learning outcomes in aspects of both early literacy and language development and early numeracy

• the variation in effects and limited evidence around play based learning that is not led by a practitioner, suggest that further research is needed to identify exactly what approaches are effective in play based learning

physical development approaches: (5)

• moderate impact for very low cost based on very limited evidence

• approaches supporting physical development and activity in young children can have a valuable positive effect on their learning of 5 months additional progress on average - however evidence is very limited

• physical development is a core part of early years education and has many important benefits beyond the cognitive outcomes summarized here

• while the evidence base on cognitive outcomes is weak, positive impacts have been shown for early literacy and mathematics as well as other areas of the curriculum, such as geography and science

• research has taken place across a variety of physical development approaches, including sports and games, exercises, and rhythmic movement approaches

parental engagement: (5)

• high impact for a low cost based on extensive evidence

• parental engagement approaches have, on average a positive impact of 5 months additional progress - it is crucial to consider how to engage with all parents to avoid widening attainment gaps - there is extensive evidence on the positive impact of parental engagement approaches

• positive effects have been detected for early reading outcomes as well as early language and number skills

• there is variation in the effectiveness of different approaches, and practitioners should take care when developing their parental engagement approaches, and plan for effective ongoing monitoring and evaluation

• generally, interventions which target particular families or outcomes show greater progress

extra hours: (5)

• moderate impact for very high cost based on limited evidence

• increasing the amount of early years education that a child receives has a positive effect on their learning with an average impact of an additional four months’ progress - however the evidence has very low security

• despite the positive impact, increasing the hours of provision has a high cost per child, it may be more cost effective to focus on improving the quality of provision before considering increasing the amount of within each day

• learning gains from increasing hours may not sustain into primary school unless the provision of high quality, with well trained and well qualified staff

• recruiting and retaining staff is another key factor for early childhood outcomes that might interact with the number of hours of provision - practitioners will need to carefully consider the workload and wellbeing of staff as hours are increased

early numeracy approaches: (6)

• very high impact for very low cost based on limited evidence

• early numeracy approaches typically increase childrens learning by about 7 months

• approaches supporting the development of early numeracy skills and knowledge can have an important positive impact on the early stages of mathematical learning

• targeted early numeracy approaches may help children from disadvantaged backgrounds to catch up with their peers by the beginning of formal schooling

• it is particularly important to teach the full breadth of mathematics curriculum - where numeracy focused solely on number operations or on maths as a supplementary activity, impacts were lower

• professional development may be particularly important in early numeracy - professionals’ knowledge of mathematics and of young children’s development in mathematics supports early mathematical learning

early literacy approaches: (5)

• moderate impact for very low cost based on extensive evidence

• early literacy approaches typically increase children’s learning by about 4 months - approaches that develop literacy skills and knowledge can have an important effect on early reading - the evidence for the positive impact of early literacy approaches is extensive

• early literacy interventions seem to have impacts that transfer to other areas of the curriculum such as mathematics, where the average impact is +2 months progress

• targeted small group interventions may be particularly effective especially for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds

• careful monitoring of progress in reading is particularly important to target approaches effectively

earlier starting age: (6)

• moderate impact for very high cost based on very limited evidence

• beginning early years education one year earlier than usual appears to have a moderate positive impact of 3 months additional progress on average on learning outcomes

• one of the weaknesses of the evidence base is that most of the studies examine comparisons between starting early years education at four rather than five - while impacts appear consistent, there is much less evidence around the impact of even earlier starting ages

• an important consideration around earlier starting age is cost - where costs present a barrier to disadvantaged families - attainment gaps may grow

• an earlier starting age will have impact on provision - careful consideration should be given to provide appropriate support for all age ranges across settings

• positive effects have been detected for early reading outcomes in the first year of primary schools as well as early language and number skills - there is some evidence that positive effects of an earlier starting age can be sustained in to primary and secondary school, but evidence is much weaker and heavily influenced by the quality of provision during primary school

communication and language approaches:

• high impact for very low cost based on moderate evidence

• communication and language approaches typically have a very high impact and increase young children’s learning by 7 months additional progress

• positive effects have been identified on early language and literacy skills, when selecting strategies, it is important to consider outcomes

• staff are very likely to benefit from training or professional development to use programs and approaches successfully

• there are many communication and language approaches - high quality provision is likely to include multiple strategies across vocabulary, language, talk and social communication skills

cultural considerations:

learning & development are tempered by circumstances and so grounded in local knowledge that they cannot be supported without an understanding of local contexts

Werker newborn language ability:

babies born with perceptual sensitivities that prepare them to develop language ; 1st month of life babies are attuned to their native language vs. novel/unfamiliar languages

Soderstrom: studying infant language preferences (2)

• head turn preference procedure for visual/auditory stimulus (interest)

• push for many baby study - sharing procedures across over 70 labs to combat individual lab small sample tests with infants

quantity counts:

refers to the fact that children who hear more and richer language develop greater vocabularies and in turn have a better foundation for literacy; children thus who hear less language, fewer words still learn to speak normally but have a more restricted vocabulary and are more likely to have difficulty learning to read and write

Hart & Risley 1995:

showed a massive gap between the quantity of language heard in a year by a child in a professional family, a child in a working class family, and a child in a welfare family - 30 million word gap

need for what 3 things are needed in parent-child interactions?

1. joint engagement

2. familiar routines

3. connectedness

joint engagement:

refers to a child and parent paying attention to and sending messages about the same thing; helps a child learn words because the adult provides the words for the actions and objects the child is paying attention to

familiar routines:

activities that happen in the same way each time are routines; because routines are repetitive, the words and actions used in the routines become predictable, making it easier for children to learn them

connectedness:

when parents and children connect during interactions, it means they enjoy being together, taking turns, and participate equally ; it motivates children to stay in the interaction longer therefore providing them with more opportunities to learn

3 pre primary projects recommendations:

1. teacher education policies that encourage retraining of existing teachers and teacher education that is focused on promoting teaching practices that are linked to positive child outcomes

2. governments should mandate free choice and small group activities and monitor programs to ensure that teachers are implementing these practices ; this should include adult child interactions that encourage children to solve problems, express their ideas and ask questions

3. programs should provide abundant, varies materials for children to explore, they point out that this should include materials that are locally available and plentiful rather than commercial materials

Werker - Korean study: (2)

• at the time of adopt they spoke only korean

• as adults their ability to speak french is no different than any other french speakers; no korean left

Werker - bilingualism advantage: (4)

• adaptive developmental achievement - being able to learn one set of rules or another set of rules

• maintains ability to discern consonant distinctions in both of their languages

• uses cues in silent talking faces to discern when the speaker switches languages (visual cues)

• some costs to bilingualism as well as - rate of processing is slower

7 benefits of bilingualism:

1. bilingual children are better able to focus their attention on relevant information and ignore distractions

2. bilingual individuals have been shown to be more creative and better at planning and solving complex problems than monolinguals

3. the effects of aging on the brain are diminished among bilingual adults

4. in one study the onset of dementia was delayed by 4 years in bilinguals compared to monolinguals with dementia

5. bilingual individuals have greater access to people and resources

6. in canada, employment rates are higher for french/english bilinguals than monolinguals

7. canadians who speak both official languages have a median income nearly 10% higher than that of those who speak english only, and 40% higher than that of those who speak french only

what are the 2 ways bilingual acquisition can occur?

1. simultaneous acquisition

2. sequential acquisition

simultaneous acquisition:

occurs when a child is raised bilingually from birth, or when the second language is introduced before the age of 3, these children go through the same developmental stages as children learning one language

sequential acquisition:

occurs when a second language is introduced after the first language is well-established generally, after the age of 3, children may experience sequential acquisition if they immigrate to a country where a different language is spoken

T/F: bilingualism causes language delays

false

T/F: children who are learning english or another dominant language as an additional language, benefit when their first language is valued

true

T/F: when children mix their languages (code switch in same sentences) it means they are confused and having trouble becoming bilingual

false

T/F: research indicates children who learn a dominant language after their home language is established (age 3) are able to acquire full fluency in the dominant language during their preschool and early school years

true

T/F: if you want a child to speak the majority language, parents should stop speaking their home language with their child

false

T/F: the skill of bilingualism leads to longterm cognitive, social and economic advantages

true

T/F: an individual must learn a second language as a young child in order to become bilingual

false

T/F: learning a second or third language is easier in early childhood rather than later

true

summarize the 4 language/literacy milestones of infancy:

1. newborns: startled by loud noises; calmed by sounds of familiar voice

2. 1-2months: smiles when spoken to; coos

3. 3-7 months: responds differently to different intonations (angry, happy); babbles

4. 8-12 months: turns head toward sound; pays attention when spoken to; responds to name; understands between ~5-200 words; recognizes phrases from games/routines (peekabo)

language/literacy milestones of toddlers-children: 1 year

uses 0-30 words

language/literacy milestones of toddlers-children: 1-1.5 years

uses learned words and phrases over and over again

language/literacy milestones of toddlers-children: 1.5 years

uses 10-250 words

language/literacy milestones of toddlers-children: 1.5-2 years (5)

• uses at least 10 words; may use as many as 550 words

• understands basic directions such as put the book on the shelf

• combines words into two word sentences

• speaks intelligibly 2/3s of the time

• uses at least 2 pronouns correctly

language/literacy milestones of toddlers-children: 2-3 years (7)

• uses at least 50 words but may use more than 700

• uses some plural forms of nouns

• uses some past tense forms of verbs

• knows and can point to main body parts when asked

• understands and responds to most simple questions

• takes part in brief conversations

• knows at least three prepositions (in, on, under)

language/literacy milestones of toddlers-children: 3-4 years (7)

• names common objects in picture books or magazines

• uses sentences of 3 or more words, often with adult like grammar

• asks questions of who, where and why

• uses past tense often

• tells a simple story

• follows simple directions easily, even when target objects are out of visual range

• repeats words, phrases, syllables and sounds

language/literacy milestones of toddlers-children: 4-6 years (11)

• speaks in a way that is intelligible to unfamiliar adults

• uses adult like grammar consistently

• uses fairly long sentences, with some compound and complex sentences

• knows common opposites: hard and soft; big and little

• counts to 10 and understands number concepts to 4 or more

• repeats sentences as long as 9 words

• describes use of common objects

• uses descriptive words spontaneously

• makes up rhymes, including nonsense rhymes and chants

• tells a complete story with a beginning, middle and end

• predicts what happens next in a story

emergent literacy:

refers to listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills and children’s attitudes and understanding of those skills, even before they can actually read or write

phonological awareness:

refers to being able to recognize and talk about speech sounds; phonological awareness skills predict later language and literacy

skill vs. disposition:

• you want children to have the skills to read

• and the disposition to be readers and use those skills

reading for children:

program that provides a lending library and encourages family members to spend time reading with their young children in a way that makes it not only enjoyable but stimulates conversations and learning

parents in kindergarten & results:

a program where parents participate with their children in free play at kindergarten; teachers provide questions to parents to ask their child to facilitate learning

results:

• short-term: found effects compared to control group, there were short term gains for english second language children

• long-term: showed a lasting effect of the parent involvement piece for vocabulary development (for children whose parents became involved at the earliest point)

family literacy project & results:

designed as an evening workshop where parents bring preschool aged children to school - what kind of home literacy practices can we teach parents to implement to help their developing child

• found gains in the children with parental involvement

• personalized alphabet books showed significant gains / greater gains

reading recovery:

program where first grade teachers diagnose children who are not reading at level; couple times a week children have one on one reading enrichment programs; success story because at the end of the year they all basically catch up to the level of other students

reading to learn:

a literacy-teaching program designed to enable all learners to read and write successfully, at levels appropriate to their age, grade and area of study - using scaffolding techniques (ex: implementation in rural afghanistan)

young children & technology: (6)

• children have access to tech from very young ages; 83% of kids age 6 months to 6 years old use screens daily to learn, play, read - often using digital media like ebooks, tablets, smartphones or their apps

• impact of tech on young children depends on age and characteristics; for example, infants younger than age 2 do not learn well from digital media; at that age they have a limited understanding of what they see or hear on a screen

• some apps or ebooks can help children older than 2 to learn languages and numbers, if their parents guide them; parents can help by pointing out important parts of videos/stories or problems

• children are more likely to learn from digital media when content is age appropriate, engaging and educational; educational apps have a clear learning goal and they encourage the child’s active participation rather than rote learning

• apps and ebooks with many interactive features can have negative impacts on childrens learning, for example popups and embedded games make it difficult for focus

• children who are constantly exposed to digital media during the preschool years have a greater risk of having problems with attention and emotional control

early mathematic skills:

umbrella term for activities and knowledge that we would like young children to have about mathematics; where numeracy is a sub component referring to numbers

math & numeracy: infants

can discriminate between two collections varying in numbers and locate objects in space - often a quantity word, such as more is a baby’s first word

math & numeracy: 2 years old

children often begin to learn the language and grammar of counting, memorizing the first 10 or so counting words as nonsense words with no underlying meaning - they then begin to understand that one means one apple while three means more than one and also more than two, gradually building a true understanding of numbers - later children pick up a set of rules to generate higher numbers

math & numeracy: 2-5 years old

children become increasingly aware of their own thinking about numbers and begin to express it in words - preschool children are capable of big ideas about numbers and operations, geometry, measurements and patterns

understanding shape:

means analyzing and constructing shapes and defining their features, children begin to be able to sort and also build shapes and gradually can verbally explain the differences between a square, triangle, and circle for example

understanding numbers:

involves reasoning about them making inferences and developing a mental number line, with smaller numbers on the left and spaced further apart than larger numbers on the right - this helps children hold numbers in their mind and manipulate numbers in arithmetic problems as they begin school

ages & stages of numeracy development: newborn to 4 months (3)

• can tell the difference between a picture of 2 dots and a picture of 3 dots

• can immediately see that there are two or three dots on a page even though the ability to count is not yet developed

• shows surprise when a puppet jumps more times than they are used to seeing

ages & stages of numeracy development: 5-6 months old (3)

• can tell that a jar that if ½ full of juice is different than a jar that is full

• shows surprise at 3 toys when there are only supposed to be 2 toys

• can tell the difference between two large sets of toys if one of the sets is at least twice as large as the other

ages & stages of numeracy development: 9-12 months

can tell the difference between two large sets of toys even if the sets are almost the same size; for example can see that 8 toys is different than a set of 10

ages & stages of numeracy development: 1-1.5 years

for small sets of blocks, can learn to pick the smaller of the two sets

ages & stages of numeracy development: 2 years old (3)

• can learn some number words

• knows that number words are important

• labels toys with number words