Lauren Icken
76-100M Argument
Sauer
12/6/96

There are numerous factors that influence the development of an individual's reading ability and one's potential to become literate. Early childhood learning involvement is considerably important for literacy development. As Farrell Siegel stated in his essay, "A Process Model for Reading," "Early language and educational experiences for children were found to be critical to adult literacy levels." (Siegel, 2) Although early childhood experiences have been known to be important in terms of general intelligence, the RDF confirmed that the specific kinds of early educational experiences students have are highly predictive of later reading abilities. (Siegel, 2) That is, those high school seniors who were provided with more reading, language, and other kinds of both direct and indirect educational experiences during their infant and preschool years seem to had higher overall levels of reading competency than those provided with less.

I will be exploring three major aspects which will help in my attempt to clearly illustrate the importance of early development in a child and how critical it is for their development in the first six or so years of their lives. I will focus on the home environment and the importance of the parental role, the benefits of early education and preschool programs; the interaction of parent and teacher, and later effects.

"The beginning of learning is the work of memory, which in young children is tenacious. Children can learn more readily at an early age. Since children can learn manners at that age, why not begin to learn elements of letters, grammar, fables, and stories. The mind gains far more in alertness and vigour than the body is ever likely to lose." (Mason, 506) Teaching children basic skills in the early stages of their lives is so important for their educational experience. It begins at home with everyday exposure to everyday things. "There is a consistent relationship between the educational environment of the home and literacy achievement." (Applebee, 12) The home setting should include a reasonably structured and stable environment: "The home environment provides the young child with the language development and social structure necessary for subsequent success in school." (Siegel and Hansen, 8) A major problem with today's society though is that there are a lot of children who are brought up in single parent families or families with two working parents. In these cases children are being neglected by not getting enough attention. Parents play a crucial role in children's language development. According to Siegel, "Children are not receiving the appropriate attention they need to develop the proper thinking skills." (Siegel and Hansen, 6) If parents expect their children to become literate adults then they must provide guidelines for their behavior and encourage participation in reading and reading related activities. Children need the support, time, and patience from their parents to development their intellectual skills that will later be carried over into school. "When parents and children read together at home, they share memorable experiences, the effects of which carry over into school." (Weitock, 32) "Many children begin to learn about how to read at a very early age through being read to, learning to identify and name letters and words, and learning to print, spell, and use printed labels in their drawings." (Mason, 536) In James Paul Gee"s essay, "Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics," he argues that in order for a people to be literate they must be "fluent in secondary discourse," (Gee, 9) which means a person first needs primary discourse. Primary discourse is acquired from the home and is picked up through different family practices and experiences.

"At school they can't practice what they haven't yet got and they are exposed mostly to a process of learning and not acquisition." (Gee, 24) Children acquire knowledge subconsciously by exposure to models and a process of trial and error, without a process of formal teaching. This is just another example why the home environment is so critical. When children are being read to they are learning and picking up sounds and symbols. They are developing their minds which will help them later reach their potential.

"The development of literacy is not solely a function of schooling. Some students live in communities and homes that foster literacy activities; others live in communities and homes where literacy activities occur less frequently." (Applebee, 12) This is why students enter school at different levels. Reading skills are developed through the home and school. They need both to achieve proper literacy levels. According to Arthur N. Applebee, "Preschool and the early elementary grades seem particularly important in setting the pattern of a student's academic career. A good start is self-reinforcing, providing a solid base of skills on which later achievement can continue to build." (Applebee, 13) "The preschool environment was defined as the level at which the student's preschool experiences nurtured or prepared the child for reading. Indicators of nurturance of reading and language skills included the frequency and type of educational experiences in the home, the amount of time that the child spent in the company of parents." (Siegel, 340) By the parent showing the child their expectations for him or her through attention and persistency, an achiever as a student will result. "A national follow up study confirmed that students' high school reading achievement was related to preschool attendance as well as to other specific preschool educational experiences." (Siegel and Hansen, 10) Such preschool activities as learning nursery rhymes and stories, watching Sesame Street, playing word and number games, being read to, attending preschool, and participating in special lessons such as swimming, dance, or music were all positively related to students reading in high school.

Max Cynader, a professor at University of British Columbia, has an additional thought on this subject. He believes that a big part of a child's intelligence involves genes, which determines the brain's ability to process information. He also says the environment in which the child grows up is an important factor.

The kinds of educational experiences that parents and teachers provide for children do make a significant difference in their reading skills as young adults. Students entering school with few early educational experiences are typically placed in remedial or developmental classes, held back, or told to remain at home another year. Those students are rarely mainstreamed back into a regular classroom with students who are the same age. These students never catch up and are effectively placed in a remedial educational environment throughout their schooling years. Remedial programs are damaging to students' mental state of mind. They think they are less intelligent and therefore precede to perform that way. "Because many school districts commonly place "unready" students in remedial classes or hold them back at the end of their kindergarten years, preschool programs should logically begin as early as three and four years of age." (Siegel, 346) Consequently, preschool children must be provided with reading, language, and other educational experiences if they are expected to be successful in school and become literate adults. "Using general measures of the children's educational experiences prior to kindergarten, the analyses shows that these preschool activities contributed significantly to the students' reading level as high school seniors." (Siegel, 345)

I feel very strongly about teaching children at a very young age how to read. This is because I can relate to it. When I was growing up, my parents didn't read to me. I watched TV and did my arts and crafts but I really wasn't exposed to the acquired learning a child gets through books. I feel this had a great affect on my reading ability. Ever since I started school I was always in the lowest reading level and had a difficult time reading. My parents left it up to the school to teach me how to read and write, which was their mistake. Teachers wanted to put me into remedial classes but I refused. I didn't want to be different from all my friends. I'll really glad I put up a fight. I pushed myself to keep up with my fellow classmates. I had to work extremely hard to get myself to the level I am at now, but I still feel I have not caught up. I think it is so important for parents to understand how crucial it is to start educating their children early. I will not make that mistake with my children.

The most successful programs may be those that include the home and community, involving adults in self-improvement as well as enlisting their support in the development of literacy in their children. They can make all the difference. In order to improve future literacy rates, we must first bring to the parents attention the importance of developing their children's minds through reading and other activities. The next step is for all children to be given the opportunity to attend full day preschool and kindergarten that would provide them with beginning reading instruction and related educational experiences which is critical to literacy development. If something is going to be done about the literacy problem facing the world, we should start where it counts.

As I have illustrated, children who learn to read early, either indirectly through home and family experiences, or directly through formal beginning reading programs implemented in preschools and kindergartens, are typically good readers. Through examples of Gee, Siegel, Hansen, and many other authors, they all seem to agree on the importance of early educational development. It is important for parents to realize how crucial it is now. Eventually, people will be confident that we understand how young children develop, and they change their views about the importance of reading to young children. Only then, will it be possible to achieve major progress in reducing illiteracy.