-
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
1712-1778
Rousseau believes that children should only be taught things they are developmentally ready for. Children learn through curiosity and formal instruction interferes with the child's individual ways of learning. There should be little to no intervention from adults. -
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
1746-1827
Pestalozzi believed in natural learning but with principles of informal instruction. It was necessary for educators to provide conditions where the learning process grew. He argued that because children develop through sensory manipulative experiences, there needed to be a way they could learn through them. He used objects (gifts) and had the children experience the smell, touch, language, shape, and size. -
Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel
1782-1852
Froebel agreed with Pestalozzi and continued to study his methods. However, Froebel was a firm believer that play should be involved in learning. The teacher is the creator of these playful activities that assist children in learning. -
Reading Readiness
Beginning in 1931 with Morphett and Washburne's research, it was believed that maturation was the most important factor in determining if a child is capable in learning to read. in the 1930s and 1940s, test were created to determine if a child had the skills that suggested maturity high enough for reading. Later, reading readiness became popular. It made sure children had the necessary skills that were tied to reading (auditory and visual discrimination, and visual and large motor skills). -
B.F. Skinner
Skinner was a behaviorist that believed learning was not unintentional or automatic because it required certain instruction. He found that positive reinforcement given for a certain behavior resulted in that specific behavior being repeated. -
Maria Montessori
Montessori believed that the teacher acts as a guide who also provides certain materials that are designed to teach specific skills. Children required orderly and systematic training through an instructor who demonstrated and the children followed in turn. The materials were self-correcting so the children could recognize their mistakes and fix them. -
John Dewey
Progressive Education
Dewey believed that the curriculum taught should be built around the interest of the children. He also argued that social interactions encourage the learning process and children learn best through play. -
Jean Piaget
Piaget created the theory of cognitive development which explained the intellectual capabilities of children at certain stages in their growth (sensorimotor, preoperational. concrete operational, and formal operational). Piaget also believed that children learn best through interacting within the world. This is shown with problem solving. assimilation, and accommodation. -
Lev S. Vygotsky
Vygotsky's theory suggest that learning occurs as new concepts are acquired. New concepts are "schema" which is where people store new information. He believes that interaction between others sparks the opportunity for new schema. Vygotsky also believed in scaffolding. Scaffolding directs the attention of a child to what it is they need to know and do. The zone of proximal development, when a child can do some of a task but not all, allows for children to practice without help from adults. -
The National Reading Panel Report
This report highlights the most important and effective strategies in teaching children grades kindergarten to third grade to read. The report found that learning these processes were the guide to becoming a fluent reader:
1. phonemic awareness
2. phonics
3. vocabulary
4. comprehension
5. fluency -
No Child Left Behind Act
Reading first grants, money given from the Federal Government -
National Early Literacy Report
Consist of children knowing letters and sounds, rapidly name letters and numbers, phonological awareness, write their name and letters, remember what was said to them, concepts about print, and producing and comprehending spoken language. -
Common Core Standards
Work for Common core began in 2007/2008 and was established as neither a curriculum or method. Many states haven written their own standards, including South Carolina. -
Read to Succeed
Established to address literacy performance in South Carolina.