Starting Early Sets the Stage for Success

Starting Early Sets the Stage for Success

By Margaret P. Kring, FAEMSP President

Principal of Moseley Elementary School, Putnam County Public Schools

"The earlier, the better" is something that we often hear both inside and outside of education. In the case of preparing our students to be college and career ready, starting early with learning experiences in literacy, oral language, social skills, and math is certainly a key to success especially for children in high poverty areas. The importance of oral language development and literacy cannot be emphasized enough.

Oral and written communication skills are basic life skills.  However, a child’s ability to communicate through oral language can be a barrier to academic success or an asset to academic achievement. In designing early childhood programs (PreK to Grade 2), oral language experiences should be priorities for a number of reasons. In Title I or high poverty schools, many children come to school in PreK, kindergarten, first, and second grades lacking the knowledge of basic vocabulary mainly because they haven’t been exposed to a variety of words or syntactical structures in the home environment. Studies have shown the disparities in children’s vocabulary and understanding of oral language based on different socio-economic levels. (Hart & Risely)

As a principal in a Title I school, the problem of children’s lack of oral language really hit me when I would ask students to describe a situation such as a behavioral incident in which they “got in trouble” and found that they did not have the words to adequately describe what had happened. In addition, teachers would tell me that students didn’t know that some words meant the same thing, like couch and sofa. 

So what can we do on a daily basis in early childhood classes to try to make a difference?

1.) Having a rich literacy environment is one simple practice.  The easy way to do this for teachers is to have everything in the classroom labeled so that children can see that things have names. 

2.) Doing read-alouds several times a day.  Reading out loud to children with expression and showing them the pictures that go with the text is important.

3.) Teachers and all adults in a school must use and model correct vocabulary and syntax when speaking, whether it’s a casual conversation or a formal lesson presentation. Children should be taught to use correct language and syntax in their discourse as well. Using correct and appropriate oral language will then become automatic for them.

4.) Teaching children verbal responses, almost like scripts when they have to “turn and talk” to each other or when they are asking or answering questions.  I was in a PreK ESE class and the teacher had the children repeat each phrase that she said. When they had to ask a question, she taught them the words to use and how to phrase the question in a complete sentence. When the students answered a question, she modeled the complete sentence answer and the students repeated that answer. Some teachers write sample question and answer stems and post them around the room or give them to students on index cards to use. There are many more strategies similar to this available.

Conclusion

The key for early childhood education is an underlying belief that all children can learn, want to learn, and are ready to learn. We just have to take them where they are and put in place the supports that will move them forward.  A strong foundation in oral language and literacy, both life skills, will propel our students forward toward future academic success.  But we must start on this journey as early as possible because our children are our most precious assets.