Early Literacy Development

Research shows that investment in early childhood is essential not just for the well-being of our children, but for society as a whole. Several important studies have pointed out the economic and social benefits when investments are made in early childhood programs and services.  This column includes links to some key research that may help children’s library practitioners to advocate for sustained or improved early childhood focused programs, services, and collections.

Mother Goose on the Loose is an award-winning early
childhood literacy program for babies and their caregivers
offered each week at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in
Baltimore, Maryland. This article describes the history of the
program including the theories behind it, practical
implementations for creating optimal learning environments
for very young children, descriptions and benefits of the
program, and parent reactions to it.

Abstrak Full-play time merupakan konsep awal penggagasan kindergarten atau Taman Kanak-Kanak (TK). Namun, tren yang terjadi, anak tidak lagi mendapatkan banyak kesempatan untuk mengekplorasi diri melalui kegiatan pembelajaran kontekstual seperti bermain drama dan mendengarkan dongeng. Anak difokuskan pada academic-centered activities sehingga mengalami kejenuhan belajar di usia yang terlalu dini. Selain itu, siswa belum memiliki kesiapan sekolah saat akan memasuki usia sekolah dasar. Karenanya, penelitian ini dilakukan untuk membantu siswa TK agar memiliki kesiapan sekolah berupa keterampilan akademik, sosial-emosional, dan moral melalui kegiatan mendongeng secara klasikal. Studi eksperimental ini menggunakan True-Experimental Posttest-Only Design. Populasi sasaran adalah 100 TK di Kabupaten Sumenep dan 2 TK terpilih melalui teknik cluster sampling. Data dikumpulkan melalui Bender Gestalt Test dan observasi. Serangkaian kegiatan mendongeng sebagai treatment yang diberikan pada siswa membuktikan bahwa kelompok eksperimen memiliki kesiapan sekolah lebih awal dibandingkan dengan kelompok kontrol. Jumlah siswa kelompok eksperimen yang memiliki kesiapan sekolah lebih banyak dibandingkan kelompok kontrol dengan selisih 37% age equivalent 8 tahun-an dan 29.6% setara dengan usia 7 tahun-an. Tujuan lain yang tercapai adalah berkembanganya keterampilan-keterampilan kesiapan sekolah berupa: perkembangan kosa kata, aktif tanya-jawab, sikap sosial positif terhadap teman sebaya, kepedulian terhadap lingkungan sosial, dan perkembangan literasi.

Kata kunci: kesiapan sekolah, literasi, storytelling.

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The purpose of this chapter is to discuss three important issues related to home environment influences on young children's print-related learning. The first considers the influence of individual child and parent differences in print-related experiences. This discussion encompasses both the influence of parents in creating or responding to child differences and to differences among children in how they initiate or respond to different experiences. The second issue relates to the characteristics of successful home learning experiences. Specifically, the degree to which experiences are simultaneously informal and directed will be discussed. The final issue considers the appropriateness of home intervention programs, and if intervention programs are to be conducted, the structure and content of such programs.

Cross-linguistic studies show that complexity and regularities of orthographies will affect the decoding and spelling acquisition rate of the language. However, very little research examines the lexical properties and their relationship with literacy acquisition in Malay, a transparent alphabetic orthography. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the relationship between the lexical and sub-lexical qualities in Malay words and kindergarten children’s decoding and spelling acquisition. The study involved Malay native speaker kindergarten children from an urban city in West Malaysia. The results converged with previous studies on consistent and shallow orthographies but offered an alternative perspective on the contribution of sub-lexical properties in Malay orthography in relation to kindergarten children’s literacy acquisition. Pedagogical implication for the design of an early literacy intervention programme was discussed, highlighting a combination of a coarse-grained and fine-gr...

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].