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At Charter Oak Academy of Global
Studies, a public elementary school (K-5) in West Hartford, literacy
begins with programs at the Family Resource Center (FRC), a Bridge
program housed in the school. At semi-weekly playgroups, children
ages birth through four and a parent or caregiver listen attentively
to books at “circle time.” Home visits using the “Parents As
Teachers” curriculum are offered on an on-going basis. Family
FUNdamentals, an English literacy class for the whole family, is
taught in the evening.
This past summer a new program, 1,2,3, Read with Me, provided
13 Charter Oak pre-kindergarten children with an introduction to
school and immersed them in a literacy and vocabulary-rich
environment. The program met Monday through Friday mornings for
four weeks. Priority registration was given to children who had not
attended an accredited preschool or who speak English as their
second language.
Why
initiate a program like 1,2,3, Read with Me? In October
2002, a focus group of 14 West Hartford kindergarten teachers,
childcare providers and school social workers met to discuss what
they felt were compelling issues around readiness to learn and early
intervention services available to young children in the community.
This group agreed that many children were entering kindergarten
unprepared.
“There is a large population of 4- to 5-year-old children in West
Hartford who for a variety of reasons do not have the opportunity to
attend pre-school,” said Deborah Zipkin, director of the FRC.
1,2,3 Read with
Me
was an attempt to provide a solid month-long foundation — a pre-school
experience.
After reading the literature and having discussions with educators,
childcare providers and parents, two goals for the program
evolved: 1) To help children prepare socially and emotionally for
kindergarten, and 2) To help children to be academically ready and eager to learn. The
program curriculum not only provided a language-rich experience to
set the stage for the development of emergent literacy skills, but
it also included opportunities for the children to learn the life
skills that are necessary to ensure success in kindergarten.
“We worked on practical skills,” said Deborah, “like finding the
kindergarten room, keeping track of one’s belongings, using the
bathroom, raising a hand to answer a question, etc.”
The
children worked on
basic concepts — holding a book correctly, identifying shapes and
colors and using scissors, glue, and pencils correctly. They also learned about literacy through real life experiences.
They went on a field trip to the library and got library cards; they
picked blueberries and made blueberry muffins. Storytellers visited
the program and shared their love of language.
“Each week we had a theme and a corresponding book,” said Deborah.
“Week 2 was ‘sea creatures and the beach.’ The chosen book was
What Lives In a Shell? The Science Center of Connecticut brought a lot
of animals — a snake, a turtle, a starfish, etc. Some children had
not seen these animals. We made blue jello and added colorful gummy
fish. We went on a treasure hunt for sea creatures and in the
process explored all parts of the school — even the principal’s
office.
“The more experiences a child has, the easier it is to read about
those experiences,” said Deborah. “We are building on their
‘experiential base.’ If the Connecticut Mastery Test has a paragraph on a
seahorse and you have never seen or heard of one, it’s tough to
answer the questions.
“What we were doing was laying the foundation for learning,” said
Deborah. “Every day we had an activity, always hands-on, always
interesting — in math, science, every academic area. When we were
studying dinosaurs we made dinosaur tracks with clay, and we talked
and read a lot about dinosaurs. When we went to Dinosaur State
Park, children could say, ‘There’s a pterodactyl!’ ”
At the end of
each week, the children took home the featured book. “We read the
book daily, so when they took it home on Friday they could read
it to their families,” said Deborah.
1,2,3, Read
with Me was funded by a grant from the Raymond Foundation, a
private foundation founded in 2000 and headquartered in West
Hartford. Believing that literacy is the most basic skill with the
greatest impact on individual achievement, the foundation’s mission
is to work to improve the education and health of children and their
families.
This summer Deborah saw a big difference between children who have
had a good pre-school experience and those who haven’t. “Children
without pre-school experience find it difficult to sit still during
a story; if they can’t listen then they can’t learn. It is hard for
them to wait their turn. They are not used to sharing materials and
listening to others’ ideas. The bright side is that they come
around so fast. Five-year-olds are so open to learning new skills.
As soon as they see how much fun it is to be part of a group and
participate with these buddies, they join right in.
“I know little kids
are terrific, and their brains are open to new connections and new
learning, but I never knew how much we could accomplish in a month.
By the end of their first week, they were pointing to words and
reading. I was moved to tears. They were just so impressive.”
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