There are four learning goals for language and literacy:

• Learning Goal 1: Listen for information and enjoyment
• Learning Goal 2: Speak to convey meaning and communicate with others.
• Learning Goal 3: Read with understanding and for enjoyment
• Learning Goal 4: Use drawing, mark-making, symbols, and writing with invented and conventional spelling to communicate ideas and information.

Strategies for Language and Literacy

Modelling

Teachers play an important role in becoming effective language models for children as they learn to talk by listening to the language of others around them. Teachers must demonstrate that they respect children’s speaking by taking time to listen and respond as they begin to communicate with others and use language to convey their thoughts, feelings, and ideas.

Furthermore, instructors must be aware of and attentive to the fact that children come from diverse households and language backgrounds. Some children may be in the early stages of language development, acquiring the sounds, vocabulary, and norms of a language other than the one they speak at home. Teachers can aid students’ comprehension of the language by utilizing short phrases, speaking slowly and clearly, and stopping between words.

Reading Aloud

Children’s book experiences serve to lay the groundwork for their subsequent reading development. The most essential thing for teachers to do in the preschool years is to read aloud to youngsters. This encourages youngsters to develop an interest in and a positive attitude toward reading.

According to research, “the single most significant activity for eventually establishing knowledge and abilities for reading appears to be reading aloud to youngsters” (Adams, 1990, p. 46). Reading aloud to youngsters improves their listening abilities and introduces them to the language’s sound structure and syntax. They learn vocabulary that is different from what they hear in their regular discussions.They also learn about letters and letter sounds, which helps them improve their alphabet knowledge, which is essential for learning to read.

Teaching target vocabulary

Words must be known by children in order to be understood. To learn the words, they must be exposed to them in a variety of settings throughout time. Teachers should not expect youngsters to learn new words just by listening to stories. As a result, they must choose target words and teach them to the youngsters on purpose.

Using songs, rhymes, and finger plays

Songs, rhymes, and finger plays are natural tools for teaching children about language in a fun way, especially those with repetitive phrases (e.g., “Mary Had A Little Lamb” and “Two Little Black Birds”) and that require children to do actions and make sounds (e.g., “Itsy-Bitsy Spider,” “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” and “Old MacDonald Had a Farm”).

Using Functional Role Play

Children take on diverse roles and act out scenarios in familiar locations such as the house, clinic, bakery, or restaurant in functional role play. Children get the chance to utilize language while acting out their roles and organizing and maintaining the play. Functional role play also aids in the development of their comprehension of their surroundings.

Children like to play with things they are comfortable with. Teachers can create play environments based on their own experiences. They can explore role-play scenarios with the youngsters, provide examples of what to say and do, and model appropriate language use. Teachers should not presume that students understand what to say in various social situations.

Using Language Games

Language games may be used by teachers to establish situations for meaningful dialogue. Games allow youngsters to practice words and sentences that will help them communicate in regular settings. Games are also engaging and entertaining. Children’s shyness and inhibitions are often lost in the joy of play.

Shared Writing

Children must be able to relate letters to their sounds and grasp that letters are used to write the sounds they hear in words in order to spell and write words. Teachers can assist them by modeling the writing process through shared writing. Teachers reflect aloud about what they want to write, sound out the words, represent each sound with a letter or letters, and illustrate print norms as they write in shared writing. Teachers can encourage students to engage in the writing process as they grow more comfortable with it.

From the moment they are born, children begin learning languages, learning about languages, and learning via languages. They learn how to utilize language by listening to adults talk and read to them, as well as by interacting with people and playing with their hands.

When children see signs, labels, posters, books, and images on television, they learn what written language looks like. They begin to learn about reading and writing as they see people in their daily lives compiling lists, taking notes, and reading newspapers. Children acquire literate habits as a result of these encounters even before they can read and write properly.

Language and literacy in the early years

Language is about hearing and speaking inside a system with its own rules and norms, whereas literacy is about reading and writing to understand print and transmit meaning via print. Language and literacy development in children is aided by their experiences at home, school, and in the community. They develop their own knowledge as they engage with people and objects, and they use language and tangible representations such as drawing, mark-making, and writing to express what they know and have learned.

Listening and Speaking

Children must hear language in order to learn to speak it, and they must also have opportunities to communicate with people using language.

Playing with their peers and engaging with others offer youngsters actual and relevant circumstances in which to use language. They learn to listen and take turns speaking in talks and discussions as a result of this process. They also learn about tone, gestures, facial expressions, and body language, which will help them grasp what is being said.

Reading

Reading entails deducing meaning from print. When learning to read, most children go through the following stages:

• Pre-reading: Children initially notice that print conveys information. They employ visual clues to make sense of print in their surroundings. Children, for example, know the word “exit” by linking it with the sign over the door.
• Initial reading: As youngsters learn the names and sounds of letters, they utilize this information to decode words and recognize certain words by sight.
• Fluent reading: Children will be able to read more easily as they learn to decipher words faster and more effectively. Children will be able to focus their attention on understanding and making sense of the text when automaticity creeps in.

Children require experiences with oral language and a range of texts to acquire the early literacy abilities listed below, which will aid them in learning to read.

Writing

Reading and writing are intertwined. Learning one helps in the learning of the other. Thus, it is important for children.

Learning Goals for Social and Emotional Development

The learning goals for Social and Emotional Development focus on the need for teachers to guide children to:

• Manage and express their emotions in appropriate ways
• Build positive relationships with others
• Recognise that everyone is unique and show respect to the people whom they interact with
• Reflect on their choices when making decisions

Learning Goal 1: Develop an awareness of personal identity

• Identify own strengths likes and dislikes, and needs
• Identify and recognize emotions
• Develop a positive self concept
• Develop confidence in carrying out simple tasks
• Show a positive view of themselves

Learning Goal 2: Manage their own emotions and behaviors

• Express and cope with emotions appropriately without harming self, others and property
• Self-regulate their behaviors

Learning Goal 3: Show respect for diversity

• Recognise that everyone is unique in the following ways:
• Physical characteristics
• Race
• Ability
• Opinion
• Show respect to the people that they interact with
• Recognize feelings and show understanding of what others are going through and how they are feeling through actions and/or words

Learning Goal 4: Communicate, interact and build relationships with others

• Show appreciation and care for others
• Work and play cooperatively in a group
• Build relationships with others
• Communicate thoughts, ideas and feelings effectively with others through words, gestures and actions

Learning Goal 5: Take responsibility for their actions

Children may on their own or with teacher/peers:

• Consider possible options/actions to manage a situation
• Consider the effects/consequences of options/actions
• Reflect on their choices

Teachers will use teaching opportunities during playing to help children adjust and build habits. Baby’s opportunities to develop and master this information, skills, and orientations should be carefully arranged.

When children are given opportunities to engage well with others, their social and emotional health develops. Teachers and schools are increasingly crucial in ensuring that these opportunities occur in the classroom. The use of suitable learning methods will assist guarantee that children have the chance to develop abilities that will foster them to become confident and capable persons with societal responsibility.

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