Language Development: Learning Mechanisms And Outcomes From Birth To Five Years

Language Development at an Early Age: Learning Mechanisms and Outcomes from Birth to Five Years. The acquisition of language is one of the more remarkable achievements of early childhood. By age 5, children essentially master the sound system and grammar of their language and acquire a vocabulary of thousands of words.

Children begin to learn about reading and writing in infancy where they come into contact with print in their environments. Because we live in a print-rich society, young children are able to read environmental signs, such as labels on cereal boxes, names of restaurants and logos on clothing. In addition, young children who have been read to, who have had opportunities to “read” their own stories, who regularly see others reading and writing and who tend to experiment with writing, begin to understand that print has meaning. Many children,

Such a program does not focus on developing specific skills such as letter recognition or auditory discrimination in isolation of content. Early childhood practitioner should be facilitators of children’s existing literacy knowledge, supporting and extending it to greater levels of complexity. The program must provide an environment that is rich in opportunities to engage children in language and literacy experiences where children feel comfortable and confident in their growing abilities as readers and writers. These experiences should occur throughout the day and in all aspects of the program. Since children’s first experiences with reading and writing occur in their homes and communities before they enter child-care and education programs, parents and caregivers should continue to be a part of children’s literacy learning in preschool programs. The following are recommendations for promoting literacy in the