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Jenna Rehm
November 18th 2011
Corbett
AP Literature
Early Childhood Literacy and Its Importance
What would education systems be like without a strong focus on early childhood
literacy? Through parental guidance, educational programs, and instruction from teachers and
librarians, children are learning the importance of literature at a very young age. Without a
doubt, this prepares them for years of schooling ahead and provides them with a basis of
everyday life skills.
Parents are a strong factor in helping their young children focus on literature. Their
importance has been noted through a view that “as the first teachers of children, parents
influence and prepare their children for the world, for their educational experience, and for their
future literacy success” (Caravette 52). Before reaching the age where they will learn and focus
on reading in school, children first have to learn basic skills from their parents. The skills
learned not only teach the young children fundamentals for reading more advanced books, but
also eventually pinpoint the focus of just how important reading is for them. Now there are new
products out that help parents prepare for reading and relate these readings to their children‟s
lives. The “Bounty New Mother Bag” is a great example of this as “in one
instance, representations of a product designed to keep babies safe from germs invoked images
from the traditional fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood by making a visual analogy between
germs and the Big Bad Wolf” (Nichols, Nixon and Roswell). Through the use of these products,
these authors clearly explain how reading is of great importance to the young children in our
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world today. By recognizing the classic tale of “Little Red Riding Hood”, some of these young
readers are able to understand the link between a main character and germs as it teaches them the
importance of health through the use of a great example. This lesson provides them with a life
skill that they will forever remember because of the impact of reading at such an early age.
Through research, it was found that there is “a significant positive relationship between
the availability and range of reading materials in the home environment and children‟s attitude
towards and achievement in reading” (Becher). Parents who find the time and resources at their
house to read with their children are bettering themselves and their child for the future. By
simply reading a book every night and having a child grasp everyday information through the
understanding of words in context, the parents are doing their job. It is clear that reading to a
child improves children‟s expressive and receptive vocabularies, inferential and literal
comprehension skills, sentence length used when writing or speaking, letter and symbol
recognition in text, basic conceptual development, and overall general interest in books (Becher).
These improvements found in a child just from primary education reading are great rewards. Not
only are these improvements helpful in learning at school, but they also leave behind important
skills for succeeding throughout school and throughout a future career. Children will have a
more positive and understanding attitude towards reading with the help of their parents. The
parents must foster the love and importance of reading, since children cannot understand how
engaging in text at such an early age will be of great benefit to them in the future. Before a child
even reaches school, the only thing that can be done to improve their education is through the
help of their parents. With parental knowledge of the benefits of early childhood literacy and
how it effects reading levels and performance skills in school, parents are the true teachers there
to enforce just how important reading is at a young age.
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Many schools set standards for young students through the concept of reading and
through the role of its importance. Some programs are put together under the fact that, “although
school library media specialists collaboratively establish library media program goals relevant to
the needs of individual schools, they are guided by a mission such as that articulated by the
American Association of School Librarians (AASL)” (Latrobe). As shown by the establishment
of an association to promote early childhood reading, the importance of this concept is
widespread. Focusing young children on literacy is not just done to help during the hours of
school but to lead the child down a path of learning communication techniques and structure in
speech for everyday usage. The missions that the AASL put together are clearly thought out and
made to meet the needs of the students. With much thought, the association came together to
state that “according to some of those AASL standards, young people should be able to evaluate
information critically and competently and appreciate literature and other creative expressions of
information” (Latrobe). Through the focus on these standards and goals this program has set,
educators are able to promote a love of reading to young people. The program‟s goal is to not
only make children love reading because of its benefit but to help students in the long run
whether they see the benefit taking place or not. Children have a hard time telling if they can
evaluate information more critically than they could a few weeks ago, or if they can appreciate
literature with a better understanding than they once had. With the help of this program, it is
clear that they will become better readers and make that time worth their while. It is certain that
a key role is played by early literacy as it “[enables] the kind of early learning experiences that
research shows are linked with academic achievement, reduced grade retention, higher
graduation rates and enhanced productivity in adult life” (Strickland).
Through other research, it has been found that having a strong literacy at an early age is a
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definite benefit. Life as a child is not the only thing affected, seeing as life as an adult will
become affected as well. Public schools have even set up recommendations that, “all children
should have access to early childhood programs with strong literacy components, early literacy
curricula and teaching practices… that should be integrated with all domains of learning, and…
they should reflect consistency and continuity with overall program goals” (Strickland). Once
again, it is made clear that schools believe in the importance of reading, as it should be involved
in all aspects of their teaching. Reading has such a large impact on lives, that just spending a
little bit of time a day doing it will not help anyone to succeed. Along with the AASL, “Every
Child Ready to Read @ Your Library has also been established as a program in many elementary
schools to promote reading in the library and the actions the children must take in order to be a
successful reader” (Ash 5). In order to benefit, reading should be promoted through all subjects
and applied on exams as well. By realizing that reading and learning can be promoted together,
it makes reading become a second nature to many students. All in all, programs defined to
promote reading at a young age strongly emphasize the advantages that will be rewarded in the
future.
Teachers are very aware of the rewards that come out of being so strict on the demand to
keep young children reading. Many teachers have begun to notice that in the past fifteen years, it
has been apparent that preschool quality has put a strong focus on elementary school reading
readiness. Information has now become child-specific about working on early literacy skills
(McCormick 31). An age limit has not been set on the process of building up a child‟s literacy.
Teachers are now finding it critical that students stay on track with the skills that are produced
out of how they teach and the way their teachings enhance the students. Reports show that
“72% of children spend time in center-based early care and education prior to starting
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kindergarten. With most children attending childcare programs during a time when they are
developing early literacy skills, it is important to have a qualified staff adept to teaching such
skills” (Mullis 4). The big deal made about the importance of literacy skills proves that with so
many children in classes that will be based upon building up literacy, teachers must be very well
trained. Not only are the educators teaching these children life lessons, but they are also giving
them the basics to a very important aspect of life, reading. When discussing a class that she
taught, Professor Morrow made it clear that teachers of early education “study the different areas
of literacy development specifically oral language, writing, and reading. [Which are]…then
translate[d] into practical strategies, materials, preparation of the environment to math teaching
strategies, and assessment concerns” (Morrow 171). The professor made sure that the different
aspects of development were included in the study of how early literacy works for young people.
By translating the information into ideas to use for student lessons, teachers can easily set up
ways to promote reading to the young. When discussing the important role a teacher plays in
early childhood, it was mentioned that “children need lots of opportunities to have hands on
experiences with books, learn about the sounds of languages, learn about the letters of the
alphabet, and listen to books being read” (Benham 2). This statement proves that experiences in
the classroom trigger the mind to capture more information for students. Through the use of
activities, it is easier for the children to value reading as it becomes a fun classroom exercise for
them. Without teachers focusing on the impact of reading at an early age, the literacy of children
would be at a dramatic low.
All in all, there is a very strong importance on early childhood literature. Without it, the
average child would take longer to recognize the basic skills of life. At the rate teachers are
working with these children and their reading skills, comprehension and basic knowledge of
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sentence structure and sounds of the alphabet are becoming easier to learn and easier to use
throughout school. From parents, to programs, to educators, the promotion of reading to young
children is done by fulfilling an overall love of reading and by giving an understanding of its
importance in education and everyday life.
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Works Cited
Ash, Viki. “Every Child Ready to Read @ Your Library.” Children & Libraries: The Journal of the
Association for Library Service to Children 7.1 (2009): 3-7. Galileo. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.
<http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=21&sid=a9233f6c-1476-449e-944c-
49db6c3ff40c%40sessionmgr112&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN
=40507758>.
Becher, Rhoda McShane. “Parent Involvement: A Review of Research and Principles of Successful
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Benham, Tammie. “Research-Based Strategies for Teaching Early Literacy Skills.” N.d. Skyways.
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Association for Library Service to Children 9.2 (2011): 52-57. Galileo. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.
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