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Rousseau Period Begins
In the 1700's, Jean-Jaques Rosseau was an influential philosopher, writer and composer. His novel, "Émile", written in 1762 jumpstarted a movement when Rosseau theorized that a child's learning style should be based in nature. -
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Rosseau Period
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Pestalozzi's Theories
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi also believed in naturalistic learning approaches but took is a step further by developing his own methods. He implemented natural elements within prior used learning styles and found it unrealistic for children to learn completely independent. His focus was primarily on the teachers who create their own environment. He theorized that children needed to learn through their five senses and focused on teaching in that direction. -
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Pestalozzi Period
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Publication of Émile
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Rosseau's Theories Summarized
He believed that children should only be asked to complete certain tasks that they are developmentally equipped for. He supported the withdrawal of forming learning environments in favor of a more at ease domain in which children would learn freely at their own natural pace. He theorized that each child has their own learning style and should have little to no intervention from adults. -
Froebel's Theories
Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel further believed in natural teaching practices. Like Pestalozzi, he believed that children needed a guided instruction and created the idea that they learned best through play. He believed that play provided the ultimate medium within independent learning and adult guidance. He was also the first instructor to create curriculum in a systematic sense which provided material for children to use. -
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Froebel Period
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Froebel's Influence
Many of Froebel’s practices are still being used today in early childhood and elementary classrooms. For instance, “circle time” and learning through group discussions are ideas that Froebel created within his theory. He also created the term “kindergarten” which translates into “children’s garden”. It cemented his idea that children are plants which grow when they are watered by their caretakers. -
Reading Readiness' Skills
The skills determined are.
1.) Auditory discrimination, the aptitude to differentiate sounds, rhymes and letters.
2.) Visual Discrimination, color, shape, and letter recognition.
3.) Visual Motor Skills, the ability to color inside the lines of a photo and cutting a straight line.
4.) Large Motor Skills, such as walking in a straight line and hopping/skipping. -
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Reading Readiness
During the 1930’s-1940’s, standardized tests were created which included components of certain skills to test if students had become mature enough to read. “Reading Readiness” became a common idea whereas instead of waiting for a child to come into their own, instructors emphasized bringing maturation into fruition through skills seeming important prior to reading. They were taught all students are at an akin level of development when they begin preschool/kindergarten. -
Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori believed students learned best through systematic and orderly training given to them early in life in order to master tasks. In the environment she created, materials were supplied in order for learning ideas to mesh with definite objectives. The instructor would use the materials in a certain fashion in which the students imitates. The mediums were error correctable and manipulative in a sense that the student could witness their errors and make the needed corrections. -
Montessori's Environment Explained
In the Montessori layout, teachers are a guide who composes the environment with items supplied to teach certain skills. The materials required are stored accordingly in the order of difficulty. These materials also had students using their five senses. Essentially, children learn about height differences, various shapes, and colors by manipulating the tools given to them. In Montessori, they teach reading and writing in a similar fashion. The focus is primarily on the items used for success. -
ESEA Created
In 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was put into motion which granted primary and secondary schools federal funding. It enacted a national curriculum and allowed schools a way to hold itself and other accountable in the educational quality provided. -
John Dewey's "Progressive Education"
In 1966, John Dewey’s theory of early childhood education led to child-centered modules, or in its time known as “progressive education”. Dewey theorized that curriculum must be centered on the children’s interests and that they learn through both play and real-life settings. He also stated that social engagements encouraged a child to learn and themes centered around their interests are necessary for maintaining information. He also was against the theory in which teaching skills as ends. -
Dewey's Influence
John Dewey’s philosophy influenced behaviorist methods such as Direct Instruction System for Teaching Arithmetic and Reading (DISTAR), Programmed Reading Series, and Success for All. Behaviorism is used in the classroom through rules and routines. -
Emergent Literacy
Emergent Literacy perspective maintains that to create literacy skills, students need models to show and describe their own ideas of reading, speaking, and writing. It is a child centered approach that exposes students to books early on and heavily emphasizes problem solving and socialization. -
Emergent Literacy Further Explained
In 1966, Marie Clay first used the phrase describing the assumption that a student begins learning language, reading, and writing prior to beginning school. Emergent literacy recognizes early attempts at writing as writing because they are beginning to differentiate between writing and illustrating. The same goes for when a child can tell you what is happening in a book without knowing how to read, only based on the pictures given. -
Piaget's Cognitive Development Stages
1.) Sensorimotor Period (0-2 yrs.) is where thoughts are resolved by sensory investigation as a baby.
2.) Preoperational Period (2-7 yrs.) is when a child begins to assemble their world through concrete thinking and language development.
3.) Concrete Operational Period (7-11 yrs.) is when the child moves from concrete thoughts to abstract ideas.
4.) Formal Operations Period (11-Adult) is when the person deals with abstract thought using their language. -
Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget created the theory of cognitive development which details the intellectual potential of children at various points of cognitive development. He theorized that children gain knowledge through worldly social interactions. In practice, it involves students in natural obstacle overcoming conditions, where they discover through assimilation and accommodation. -
Lev S. Vygotsky
Lev S. Vygotsky theorized that children gain knowledge through new ideas. He calls them schemas, meaning mental forms where individuals keep information. When they are required, we recall the stored information within ourselves to make the inferences needed. Vygotsky suggested that children acquire new knowledge when participating with others who give feedback. he also suggested that instructors to the children need scaffolding when learning to complete new ideas by modeling it. -
Scaffolding Further Defined.
The term scaffolding means directing the students attention to what they need to understand and act on. According to Vygotsky, students learn by taking in the movements and language of those within their environment. He also coined the "zone of proximal development". This is when a student can complete some of the task but not the entirety of it but the instructor allows them to take the lead and figure out the task for themselves through their own mistakes. -
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Explicit Instruction And Phonics Or Sound Symbol Relationships
During this period, Whole-Language approach was under fire due to student’s test scores showing a lack of literacy skills. This was caused by a misunderstanding among many educators on the ideology. They began teaching students as a unit and forgetting the importance of smaller groups. They also misunderstood it as they no longer needed to teach their students phonics. -
Explicit Instruction And Phonics Or Sound Symbol Relationships' Consequences
Because of this, those within Education began embracing phonics heavy instruction. It was also noted along with this that children needed to understand Phonological/Phonemic Awareness. This is the understanding of letter sounds, syllable Identification, and rhyming. This could be delivered in early preschool onward until students are well into the first grade. It was lastly proven by research that the method used did not matter, rather than the effort their instructor was putting into them. -
Balanced Comprehensive Approach Is Theorized
In 1999, the International Reading Association wrote Position Statement: Using Multiple Methods of Beginning Reading Instruction. This article theorized there is no one perfect approach when it comes to teaching a student to read. All children learn differently and at their own pace and it is up to the teachers to get to know their students on a personal level so they can come up with a plan for their literacy journey. As a result of this, the Balanced Comprehensive Approach (BCA) came to be. -
Balanced Comprehensive Approach Explained
This approach determines which combination of the theories mentioned works best with the learning styles of an individual student in order for them to be proficient. It is not a random combination or formula, it is required for instructors to use what they know about the theories and what they know about their students. -
No Child Left Behind
No Child Left Behind was a Congressional Act which re-sanctioned the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This act encompassed services supporting students at a disadvantage in Title I. -
National Early Literacy Panel Report
A research done across the board in 2008 stated that literate children should be able to do the following. Know the sounds and letters of the alphabet. Have phonological awareness. The ability to quickly recall the names of numbers and letters. The ability to write their own name and letters of the alphabet. Can retain the knowledge of what was said to them for a certain amount of time. Understand the idea of print. And can create and understand language which is spoken. -
Common Core
Although these works were begun in 2007-2008, it was not a set idea until 2011. A misconception of Common Core is that it is a curriculum or method, when it is not. Many individual states have written their own Common Core ideas and implemented them into their education process. -
Key Approaches to Early Childhood Literacy Today
There are two main ideas that appear when discussed with early childhood literacy. First, constructivist theory perceives learning as an ongoing exercise where students create their knowledge through the best of their abilities and mistakes. Lastly, explicit instruction theorizes learning as an instructor led activity focusing highly on teaching a skill and the steps required to master it. However, the balanced comprehensive approach strives to combine the approaches for a better outcome. -
Constructivism And Whole-Language Instruction
Whole-Language instruction is akin to Emergent literacy perspective but includes the children who can conventionally read. In this approach, literacy learning and zeroed in on the child because it is designed purposefully to be meaningful and relevant to them. A child’s interest in reading is centered on the environment around them and their own enjoyments. -
Constructivism And Whole-Language Instruction At Work
The literacy activities are made a part of learning the content presented through many themes such as art, play, math, and science. The same importance is placed on oral language, writing, and reading because they all encompass ideas to create a literate child. Previously, this program has been called the integrated language arts approach. -
Read To Succeed
Act 282, Read To Succeed, was implemented in 2015 to focus on literacy performance in South Carolina's students to make sure they graduate in a timely matter and proficient in literacy. It holds a strong system of accountability pertaining to literacy skills for students between kindergarten to their senior year in high school. -
CITATIONS FOR PROJECT
Dow, R. S., & Baer, G. T. (2012). Self-paced phonics: A text for educators (5th ed.). Pearson.