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Rousseau
Rousseau theorized that children should only begin learning new concepts when they are developmentally ready. -
Pestalozzi
Pestalozzi also believed that children should start learning skills when they are developmentally ready but asserted that when they are ready to learn literacy related skills, they need help from adults. To do this, he suggested using manipulatives. -
Froebel
Froebel believed in play based learning. He created curriculum that would teach children new concepts through play. -
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Reading Readiness
Following research that said that children shouldn't start reading before they've matured enough for it, standardized tests coined "reading readiness" tests were produced. These tests used auditory and visual discrimination skills, visual, and large motor skills as indicators of whether a child was ready for reading. -
Skinner
Skinner believed that explicit instruction was needed for Literacy acquisition. He believed that active and engaging instruction that helped children imitate literacy they saw in every day life would help children become literate. -
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Research Era
During this time period, lots of literacy research was done in classrooms and homes. This research was very influential in the practice of teaching reading and writing. -
Montessori
Montessori believed in learning literacy using the five senses and through manipulatives. -
Dewey
Dewey emphasized emergent learning and a child center curriculum. He did not believe in teaching Literacy skills formally but preferred for teachers to lead activities that COULD lead to literacy rather than explicitly teach it. -
Piaget
Piaget brought us the ideas of assimilation and accommodation. He also believed that children learned from interacting with the world. He believed children became literate through talking, discussing, and listening to stories. -
Vygotsky
The most important idea Vygotsky brought us in terms of literacy is the idea of scaffolding, or providing just enough help for a child to learn new things then slowly easing the help away and allowing them to do it on their own. -
National Reading Panel Report
The National Reading Panel Report looked into what skills children needed to nourish in order to become fluent by the end of third grade. These skills included: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Comprehension, and Fluency. -
No Child Left Behind
No Child Left Behind was a result of the National Reading Panel Report. This act gave extensive grants to K-3 in order to improve literacy. We also see a rise in emphasis on accountability with No Child Left Behind. The act aimed for every child to be a fluent reader by the end of third grade and to bridge the achievement gap. -
National Early Literacy Panel Report
The National Early Literacy Panel looked into early childhood skills that were indicators of later achievement in reading. They found that skills that should be acquired by the end of kindergarten included: knowing alphabet letters and sounds, phonological awareness, ability to rapidly ID letters, colors, and numbers, ability to write name, ability to remember what was said to them, general awareness of how to use a book, and production and comprehension of spoken language. -
Common Core Standards
Common Core aims to have students ready for either the workforce or college by the end of 12th grade and also aims to have uniform expectations for every developmental level across the country. Common is not a curriculum; it is a set of standards. Common Core groups literacy skills as a whole knows as "language arts" rather than isolating certain skills. -
Read To Succeed
Read to Succeed is an initiative in South Carolina that aims to improve literacy in South Carolina. Read to Succeed set new course standards for educators and pre educators. It also introduced more intervention methods and forms of assessment.