Why should children learn numeracy and literacy at a young age?

Knowledge hub

‘Early literacy development does not simply happen; rather, it is a social process, embedded in children’s relationships with parents, grandparents, extended family members, siblings, teachers, caregivers, friends and the wider community’ (Clarke, 1999, p.1). The power of play is the most useful tool for literacy and numeracy learning.

Educators dealing with children from newborn to five years must acknowledge the developmental stage of this age group. Young children do not process information, make sense of it, grasp it, or learn the same as older children. Promoting chances for kids to investigate, be exposed to, and engage in reading and numeracy is essential to early childhood development.

Read More

Early literacy & early numeracy are two critical skill areas that develop throughout infancy. Early reading and numeracy abilities are essential for early school success, and children’s performance in these areas is relatively consistent across time. Furthermore, these two skill sets seem to be connected. For example, young children who are delayed in their reading development are also often delayed in their early arithmetic abilities. Furthermore, there is mounting evidence that both early reading and early numeracy skills are excellent indicators of children’s long-term achievement, with early numeracy emerging as the most potent predictor of future success.

An essential first step for early childhood educators is clearly understanding reading and numeracy and how they should be taught. Literacy and numeracy include much more than the simple definitions held by many in society, such as writing, reading, counting, or knowing numbers and reciting the alphabet. Literacy and numeracy are significantly broader and more profound and are present in almost every facet of life. Scaffolding is the most prevalent strategy of adult-child interaction. Scaffolding, in its most basic form, refers to how an adult facilitates learning. During learning, the adult may play three roles: model ideas to children, collaborate with them on something or encourage the child to do or exhibit the concept independently.

No one theory can adequately explain children’s literacy development. Several ideas are required to account for the difficulties of children from varied cultural and linguistic origins growing up in various social and cultural situations. Young children in early childhood care come from multiple sources and speak over 200 languages and dialects. These youngsters are learning to read in languages other than English. Literacy as a practice is better understood as diverse literacies within people’s geographical, social, and cultural settings.

We often consider early reading and numeracy abilities to be distinct domains of development. We generally evaluate these abilities via various tasks and encourage skill gain in these areas through various instructional activities. However, research reveals strong cognitive linkages between early reading and numeracy skill development, which may help us think more about children’s early academic learning. Finally, we may use this knowledge to design rich settings promoting early reading and numeracy development.

Because early reading and numeracy skill development is critical for children’s short and long-term success, researchers have investigated the relationship between these two areas. Knowing letter names and sounds, rhyming, and print ideas, all of which are typically emphasised in early reading exercises, have links to early numeracy skills. Within one research paper, for example, letter and number naming were closely connected in preschool. Another study found that general print knowledge, including letter and sound recognition, was uniquely related to early numeracy abilities one year later. Children’s ability to subtract and add in a narrative setting was also predicted by letter knowledge, but rhyming skills predicted subtraction and addition with physical items.

A large body of evidence supports the importance of early literacy and numeracy skills for lifelong success. According to National Reading Trust research, children with high literacy skills are more likely to perform well in school, find good jobs, and be more confident and self-assured. Another study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development showed that students with high numeracy skills are more likely to attain promising professions and earn more money over their careers than those without. These and other studies emphasise the significance of numeracy and literacy abilities for children and demonstrate why it is so essential for children to develop these skills from a young age.

We may stimulate the development of vocabulary, more complicated grammar, conceptual action, and reasoning abilities in young children by engaging them in language-rich activities, whether they are literacy or mathematics oriented. A greater emphasis on mathematics may also lead to improved reading abilities. For example, students who received a mathematics curriculum outscored those who received traditional teaching in tale retelling measures of content, narrative complexity, and inferential reasoning.

The linguistic environment of early infants is essential to their general development, as academics Betty Hart and Todd Risley recognised decades ago. We now understand that language is crucial for developing early reading and numeracy abilities. Our efforts as early childhood educators to establish language-rich settings are vital to fostering skill development in areas critical to children’s long-term school performance.

Literacy starts with early exposure to spoken language. The foundations of academic development are the earliest social encounters that parents, siblings, sisters, and other family members share with the new infant. Making sounds and babbling, interactive games like ‘peek-a-boo,’ listening to and joining in songs, playing finger games and rhymes, listening to stories, looking at picture books, enjoying pretend play, scribbling, drawing, and painting are all examples of early language play.

Literate behaviours entail a wide range of symbolic thinking activities. Early literacy activities for children include sketching, modelling, constructing, excavating, painting, scribbling, listening, talking, pretending, oral language comprehension and usage, block and toy play, theatrical play, dressing up, and other print media, as well as all types of reading and looking at books.

The environment must encourage opportunities for oral language in various ways and for an extended period during the program. Educators who sit, listen and chat with children instead of rushing around the room and never having a conversation help this development. Several ways may be used to foster rich oral language experiences.

There are several reasons why purchasing our items is a wise option. To begin with, our items are of excellent quality and made to endure. Second, we provide a generous warranty on our articles, ensuring you make a sensible purchase. Third, our items are extremely reasonably priced, so you will receive excellent value. Finally, we are a renowned firm with an excellent track record, so you can be confident that you are making a secure and dependable purchase.

References

Banks, T. (2012, December 2). The importance of literacy and numeracy in early childhood. Independent. https://www.independent.ie/regionals/sligochampion/opinion/the-importance-of-literacy-and-numeracy-in-early-childhood-28843785.html

Maclellan, E. (2012). Number Sense: The Underpinning Understanding for Early Quantitative Literacy. Numeracy, 5(2).
https://doi.org/10.5038/1936-4660.5.2.3

McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., & Wang, C. (2019). A longitudinal population study of literacy and numeracy outcomes for children identified with speech, language, and communication needs in early childhood. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 47, 507–517. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.07.004

Ollerenshaw, A. (2012). Literacy Trails: A whole-of-community program to encourage literacy and numeracy awareness for preschool and early primary children. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 37(3), 147–153.
https://doi.org/10.1177/183693911203700319

Salminen, J., Khanolainen, D., Koponen, T., Torppa, M., & Lerkkanen, M. K. (2021). Development of Numeracy and Literacy Skills in Early Childhood—A Longitudinal Study on the Roles of Home Environment and Familial Risk for Reading and Math Difficulties. Frontiers in Education, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.725337

The benefits of early educational writing for children

“Children want to write. They want to write on the first day they attend school. This is no accident. Before they went to school, they marked up walls, pavements, and newspapers with crayons, chalk, pens, or pencils…anything that makes a mark. The child’s marks say, ‘I am.'”

– Donald Graves

Children, age two, use paper to express themselves and interact with others. Although toddlers and preschoolers may not write in the traditional sense, they display their writing ability by scribbling, sketching, and constructing letter-like structures. An adult’s response to a child’s first attempts at writing can either nurture or extinguish their natural desire to write. Therefore, parents, teachers, administrators and community stakeholders must understand the critical stages of writing development and encourage positive attitudes toward writing.

Read More

Children can improve their writing abilities with the assistance of our instructional boards, which provide them with an opportunity to exercise such skills in a manner that is both enjoyable and engaging. The boards are intended to be used by children of any age and provide varied writing activities that may assist youngsters in further developing their abilities.

Children who begin writing instruction at a young age have developmental advantages that include enhanced hand-eye coordination, higher fine motor skills, and enhanced reading abilities. Additionally, children exposed to educational writing at a young age are more likely to acquire a passion for studying and a favourable attitude toward their academic pursuits.

The act of employing text to communicate meaning or to build a tale or nonfiction piece of writing is referred to as compositional writing. Handwriting is a less complicated strand of development that focuses on developing the fine motor skills required to make print shapes such as alphabet letters. Composing and handwriting grow in tandem for young children to bridge the gap between their spoken and written worlds.

According to research on early writing instruction, composing helps infants acquire phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and print awareness, which are abilities connected with future reading and writing success.

Early childhood research also supports the development of core early writing abilities to promote higher-level composition skills such as organising, planning, and revising, as well as future handwriting legibility and speed.

Since the late 1970s, the dominant theoretical approach to early reading and writing has been emergent literacy (a phrase developed by renowned literacy researcher Marie Clay). Emergent literacy theory promotes writing development in a social setting in which children may learn about the meaning and process of writing by witnessing and engaging with instructors and other children. Emergent literacy urges instructors to make writing tools accessible to students and to allow them time to write freely. According to this view, reading and writing are reciprocal and connected activities. Authors must understand what readers do, and readers must understand what writers do. Both mechanisms have a role in early literacy development and are equally vital for academic achievement.

According to research on early childhood preschool writing, adult modelling and direction are especially important for teaching pupils how and when to use writing abilities. To give a balanced approach to literacy education, embedding lessons inside learning centres and genuine literacy activities in preschool and kindergarten might be used.

Early childhood writing characteristics include lower-level transcribing abilities (handwriting and spelling) and higher-level executive skills (generating ideas, organising, and revising during composting). When school-aged youngsters naturally accomplish lower-level capabilities, they have more working memory for higher-level skills. They can more readily transform language in their heads into written text.

Composing, like handwriting and spelling, is a learning process. As members of a literate culture, children display the potential to construct written texts using early forms of writing (drawing, scribbling, letter stringing) as early as two years of age. Young toddlers may learn to create grocery lists, calendars, and meals by imitating the people in their life. They may also try their hand at penning letters and tales. Their awareness of the writing process grows as they use writing to explore new ideas and interact with others.

The results of studies conducted in various academic disciplines have unequivocally shown the benefits of commencing children in early school on their writing. For instance, a study by the National Literacy Trust discovered that children who participated in early writing activities had a greater chance of achieving better levels of literacy in comparison to those children who did not participate in such activities. This was the case when comparing children who did and did not participate in such activities.

One of the many reasons purchasing our goods is a prudent option is because they are priced in a manner comparable to that of similar products on the market. To begin, the products that we provide are of exceptionally high quality, and in addition to this, they are long-lasting. This indicates that you will get excellent use out of them for many years. In addition, we provide a satisfaction guarantee that entails a money-back policy if you are not content with the acquisition you have made from us.

In general, having children begin writing at a young age as part of their formal education. When children are exposed to writing from a young age as part of their official education, it is a terrific method to establish core talents that will serve them well throughout their lives. We are sure that you will be pleased with your purchase of our goods because they are an excellent method to assist children in learning and growing, and we are also sure that you will be pleased with how we help children. Both are because our products are lovely development tools for child learning and growth.

It is vital to remember that young children are naturally driven to write. Early childhood educators must concentrate their writing teaching on content, method, and meaning (composition) to foster this urge for written expression. Families and community stakeholders must recognise and celebrate the stages of early writing development. Furthermore, it is critical to understand that handwriting instruction is only one component of writing a story and that proximal stability (core and trunk strength) and distal mobility (coordinated movement of body parts farther from the centre) are required foundations for formal handwriting instruction in the primary grades.

References

Admin, K. (2016, September 20). Why Early Reading and Writing Skills Matter. Kids Read Now. https://kidsreadnow.org/early-reading-writing/

Biba, A. G. (2016). TEACHING PRESCHOOL CHILDREN READING AND WRITING BASED ON THE NEW EDUCATIONAL STANDARD. Research Result. PEDAGOGICS AND PSYCHOLOGY OF EDUCATION SERIES, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.18413/2313-8971-2016-2-2-52-56

Girish, R. R. (2019, December 13). Importance of Writing Skills for Children. GetLitt! https://www.getlitt.co/blog/importance-of-writing-skills-for-children/

Why should children learn numeracy and literacy at a young age?

Knowledge hub

The benefits of early educational writing for children

Subscribe for Exclusive
Sales & News

SHOP

ABOUT US

Customer Information

Why should children learn numeracy and literacy at a young age?

Knowledge hub

The benefits of early educational writing for children

Subscribe for Exclusive Sales & News

SHOP

ABOUT US

Customer Information

what are you looking for?

Subscribe for Exclusive
Sales & News