Involvement of parents and day care educators iin the development of children’s language

When children discover reading...this subject, in order to develop more programs
Starting elementary school usually means learningto include families of all socioeconomic levels in
how to read. In order to be successful in thisreading and writing, an important element of early
difficult and necessary task, children must havechildhood.
and use many aptitudes. For instance, childrenForming educators pays off
learn that words are made of phonemes, theMany children spend several hours in day care
smallest contrastive unit in the sound system of aevery day, researchers have also begun to
language, must have an excellent understanding ofexamine the impact of interactions
literature and be well-versed with variouseducators-children on language development.
materials such as books. Recent studies haveHence, with no surprise, researchers found that
shown that both parents and educators canwhen teachers responded better to children
encourage children develop those skills from earlyefforts of communicating, encouraged
childhood.conversation among peers and helped the children
First, a researcher in Canada sought to determineto express their ideas and expand their
the impact of exposure of toddlers to writing withvocabulary by suggesting them new words and
reading or other form of letters and wordsconcepts, those children developed better
teaching on the reading skills in third grade. Shecommunication and language skills. Another
consequently followed 168 children from familiesCanadian study showed that children benefit when
of middle and upper classes in the Ottawa area,their teachers have been trained to provide
Ontario, for five years. The researcher came tolanguage interactions of better quality. Children
the conclusion that exposure at an early age towhose teachers were trained to use more
various printed material contributed to thecombinations of words tend to speak more often
development of better reading skills in the thirdwith their peers.
grade. The association between parental educationThis research confirms what many have
and reading performance is a lot less clear.observed. It illustrates the difference such a
Nevertheless, there is probably a key element intraining can make. Moreover, the training has not
kids success in learning reading which is ancreated new and costly requirements for
awareness of phonology, which can be stimulatededucators nor it resulted in additional work for
by punctuating on reading rhymes and poetry.them. The training only necessitated to increase
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder whattheir level of awareness. By making minor
you are! Up above the world so high, Like achanges in their interactions with kids, educators
diamond in the sky!"can make so great impact on children's language.
The Canadian study also shows the importance ofWe simply to improve the quality of interaction
exposure in young children to language, especiallykids-educators.
songs rhymes and poems. Programs whereReferences
parents and children listen to simple songs andSénéchal M, LeFevre JA. Parental
rhymes should therefore be favored. One of theinvolvement in the development of children’s
biggest challenge in helping families, especially poorreading skill: A five-year longitudinal study. Child
families, is the integration of reading in an everyDevelopment 2002;73(2):445-460.
day basis among preschool children. For manyGirolametto L, Weitzman E, Greenberg J. Training
parents, buying books is not an option. On theday care staff to facilitate children’s language.
other hand, many parents feel uneasy to go toAmerican Journal of Speech - Language Pathology
the library. More research needs to be done on2003;12(3):299-311.