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11/27/09, 09:45 PM
By RUTH MANIMTIM-FLORESCA
November 27, 2009, 6:16pm
http://www.mb.com.ph/sites/default/files/Read.jpg
There are many approaches to early childhood education but the end goal remains the same: to promote optimal development and prepare young children for proper schooling.
Ma. Carolina Gustilo de Ocampo, professor at LaSalle’s College of Education, even stressed how crucial early childhood education is especially in a developing country like the Philippines. “Children should be given all opportunities for growth and it is important that we start them at a young age,” she asserted.
In fact, according to Dr. George Morrison, an author and speaker who directs the Success for Life Programs at the University of Texas, it is also true that parents, especially moms should read to children before birth. “We need moms who know how to read to their children,” he stated. “Mothers are important in this literacy advocacy.”
When asked what kinds of books parents should read to their kids, Dr. Morrison urged parents to “make sure you read all kinds of genre – alphabet books, non-fiction books, travel books, even cookbooks!” He and Laura Benson, a literacy consultant in various American and International Schools and has more than two decades of experience in teaching reading to children of all ages, shared several titles of children’s books that they recommend to moms: Stick the Frog, The Angry Cat and Lizard Lasagna, among others.
All three stressed the importance of building children’s vocabulary even before they enter preschool by talking to them in their native language or the language of their communities. “It takes multiple exposures to a word before a child gets used to that word,” Benson pointed out and added that kids who already know several thousand words more than their classmates will definitely have an edge over other children.
Morrison, whose professional and research interests include integrating best practices into faith-based programs, added that when children go through preschool, they experience skills or concepts in meaningful contexts as learning is easier and more likely to transfer in new situations. “Thus, children with solid early childhood education experiences become flexible and consistent learners and truly develop a love for learning,” he rationalized.
In the past 15 years, the tremendous growth of preschools in the Philippines showed that parents have started to recognize the importance of these establishments. De Ocampo acknowledged that although there are various teaching methods currently being applied in various preschools here, there is still a need to find a Filipino framework of early childhood education that is appropriate in the Philippine setting.
Both Morrison and Benson were guest speakers at the recently concluded First Philippine Summit on Early Childhood Education in Fort Bonifacio Global City. The event was organized by Maximus Inventus in cooperation with Wyeth Progress Pre-School Gold.
Read and Lead
Laura Benson shared several tips to parents and early childhood educators on how to prepare kids for literacy.
1. Retell stories and do storytelling. This is a way to build brain pathways and prime children to become readers and writers.
2. Help children understand. Explain to them as they hear you read words or as they read words independently.
3. Read aloud to children everyday. Fill up their ears with the language of books and invite them to dwell in reading and in books themselves. Benson suggested having book club talks where you can discuss and deepen children’s understanding of the stories they read or were read to them. To emphasize this point, she quoted Robert Frost who said, “Surround children with books so they stumble over them.”
4. Practice the self talk of readers. Let children share their discoveries through sentences that start with, “I learned …” “I wonder …” etc.
5. Nurture children’s curiosity. Encourage them to ask questions about the story. “When children are curious, learning is more compelling and more fulfilling,” explained Benson. “Questions are also powerful in energizing children’s writing.”
6. Ask authentic questions yourself. Spark children’s imaginations by asking them questions that even you do not know the answers to.
7. Encourage children to write. Allow them to express themselves and communicate the messages of their souls. “When a child writes about something he or she is curious about, the writing work is compelling. It also encourages them to read more to improve their own writing,” illustrates Benson.
www.mb.com.ph/articles:enraged:
November 27, 2009, 6:16pm
http://www.mb.com.ph/sites/default/files/Read.jpg
There are many approaches to early childhood education but the end goal remains the same: to promote optimal development and prepare young children for proper schooling.
Ma. Carolina Gustilo de Ocampo, professor at LaSalle’s College of Education, even stressed how crucial early childhood education is especially in a developing country like the Philippines. “Children should be given all opportunities for growth and it is important that we start them at a young age,” she asserted.
In fact, according to Dr. George Morrison, an author and speaker who directs the Success for Life Programs at the University of Texas, it is also true that parents, especially moms should read to children before birth. “We need moms who know how to read to their children,” he stated. “Mothers are important in this literacy advocacy.”
When asked what kinds of books parents should read to their kids, Dr. Morrison urged parents to “make sure you read all kinds of genre – alphabet books, non-fiction books, travel books, even cookbooks!” He and Laura Benson, a literacy consultant in various American and International Schools and has more than two decades of experience in teaching reading to children of all ages, shared several titles of children’s books that they recommend to moms: Stick the Frog, The Angry Cat and Lizard Lasagna, among others.
All three stressed the importance of building children’s vocabulary even before they enter preschool by talking to them in their native language or the language of their communities. “It takes multiple exposures to a word before a child gets used to that word,” Benson pointed out and added that kids who already know several thousand words more than their classmates will definitely have an edge over other children.
Morrison, whose professional and research interests include integrating best practices into faith-based programs, added that when children go through preschool, they experience skills or concepts in meaningful contexts as learning is easier and more likely to transfer in new situations. “Thus, children with solid early childhood education experiences become flexible and consistent learners and truly develop a love for learning,” he rationalized.
In the past 15 years, the tremendous growth of preschools in the Philippines showed that parents have started to recognize the importance of these establishments. De Ocampo acknowledged that although there are various teaching methods currently being applied in various preschools here, there is still a need to find a Filipino framework of early childhood education that is appropriate in the Philippine setting.
Both Morrison and Benson were guest speakers at the recently concluded First Philippine Summit on Early Childhood Education in Fort Bonifacio Global City. The event was organized by Maximus Inventus in cooperation with Wyeth Progress Pre-School Gold.
Read and Lead
Laura Benson shared several tips to parents and early childhood educators on how to prepare kids for literacy.
1. Retell stories and do storytelling. This is a way to build brain pathways and prime children to become readers and writers.
2. Help children understand. Explain to them as they hear you read words or as they read words independently.
3. Read aloud to children everyday. Fill up their ears with the language of books and invite them to dwell in reading and in books themselves. Benson suggested having book club talks where you can discuss and deepen children’s understanding of the stories they read or were read to them. To emphasize this point, she quoted Robert Frost who said, “Surround children with books so they stumble over them.”
4. Practice the self talk of readers. Let children share their discoveries through sentences that start with, “I learned …” “I wonder …” etc.
5. Nurture children’s curiosity. Encourage them to ask questions about the story. “When children are curious, learning is more compelling and more fulfilling,” explained Benson. “Questions are also powerful in energizing children’s writing.”
6. Ask authentic questions yourself. Spark children’s imaginations by asking them questions that even you do not know the answers to.
7. Encourage children to write. Allow them to express themselves and communicate the messages of their souls. “When a child writes about something he or she is curious about, the writing work is compelling. It also encourages them to read more to improve their own writing,” illustrates Benson.
www.mb.com.ph/articles:enraged: