Dear Families,
On Tuesday, March 22, Ms. Catherine Malone (our K1 Grade Level Curriculum Coordinator) and Ms. Wendy Jones (our Primary School Literacy Coach) shared a workshop on what literacy learning looks like in K1. At the end of the workshop, families were invited to share their questions. We have done our best to provide a quick overview of the workshop and to answer your questions below.
What is Balanced Literacy?
Balanced Literacy is an effort to present students with a menu of engaging, balanced literacy instruction across 4 important elements: reading, writing, language study and speech & language. Not only is it a balance of curriculum, it is a balance between student and teacher initiated activities, of whole class, group, one-on-one, and independent experiences.
As shared in the image above, Balanced Literacy provides your child with all of the ingredients they need to become proficient readers, writers, listeners and speakers. Here we've identified some of the learning experiences that your children will encounter on a daily or weekly basis over the course of their time in K1. So many of the learning experiences in K1 touch on many learning outcomes. For example, we have placed songs and rhymes in language study, but it can also fit into speaking and listening, and also reading.
Some other key components of our K1 literacy programme that were highlighted in the workshop include:
- the importance of providing language-rich environments (children participate in both formal and informal learning engagements that support language development)
- the power of play in language development
- skills developed using wordless books and familiar books
- the role of conferring, interactive read alouds and storytelling
- what early writing looks like (focus on developing a sense of viewing themselves as a writer)
- phonemic awareness (ability to hear, identity and manipulate sounds/phonemes in language) vs phonics (connecting sounds to letters)
Below are some of your questions, along with answers:
As you move through the story, be sure to pause when new and interesting words are introduced and explain what they mean. Pose questions and ask your child to anticipate what might come next. At the end of the story, ask them to retell it in their own words. Do they have any questions or wonderings? If the author were to write another book, what might come next?
Spend time loving books, visit the library with your child and make choosing books exciting. Children seeing adults reading is also a great way to show the value of reading and a love of reading.
We know that learning to read begins with listening comprehension. This means that we need to provide children with rich opportunities to use and develop oral language. Listening comprehension involves phonological processing, making meaning and understanding context. Having your child tell you oral stories will help to develop reading comprehension. What stories does your child have to share?
Be intentional about the vocabulary you use with your child – don’t be afraid to use complex and interesting words (especially in your home language). Don’t “water down” language.
We know that learning to read begins with listening comprehension. This means that we need to provide children with rich opportunities to use and develop oral language. Listening comprehension involves phonological processing, making meaning and understanding context. Having your child tell you oral stories will help to develop reading comprehension. What stories does your child have to share?
Be intentional about the vocabulary you use with your child – don’t be afraid to use complex and interesting words (especially in your home language). Don’t “water down” language.
It was great to see all of these videos – is it possible to receive more videos to better understand our own child’s development?
Every week, our K1 teachers work together to collaboratively plan our units of study and learning engagements. This planning time also involves rich discussions on how we approach teaching of literacy. As Ms. Malone was the presenter, many of the videos were from her classroom. You can rest assured knowing that similar instructional strategies and powerful literacy learning is taking place in your child’s classroom, too!
If you have any questions about your child’s literacy development in K1, you are always welcome to reach out to your child’s classroom teacher. It is extremely important to note that all children are unique in terms of how and when they develop certain skills associated with early literacy. Just like how children learn to walk at different times, children learn to read and write at different times. These differences are all “normal” and it is important to honour each child’s developmental journey.
How do we ensure reading and writing in both English and Home Language – which should we start first?
This is because language concepts transfer.
We know that a solid language foundation in a child’s Home Language is necessary for learning additional languages. If your child is new to English, for example, their English language vocabulary will still be developing. If we limit them to reading and listening to books in English, we are limiting them to engaging with and understanding simple words. We want to develop rich vocabulary and powerful listening comprehension skills.
When your child is engaged with their Home Language (or “preferred” language), they are able to connect to previous learning experiences, understandings and rich vocabulary words that might not be accessible to them yet in English.
A strong foundational language provides children with something to connect new language learning to and is the most important component of language learning.
Young children need to feel free to “have a go” at writing without worrying about getting it right or wrong.
It can be easy to focus on surface skills, such as neat handwriting or copying words. What we want children to engage with are deeper skills – applying understanding of letters and sounds to express their thoughts and ideas. This means taking risks with spelling and experimenting with mark making. It means feeling free to record their ideas in new and innovative ways that make sense to them. Learning is messy work. If emerging writers need to worry about getting it “right”, or ensuring it is “neat”, they may be reluctant to try.
Rather than “correcting” your child’s work, focus on being encouraging of your child’s work. If you don’t know what they have written or drawn (and most times you won’t), simply approach with an open ended question such as “Tell me about your picture. Tell me about your work. Tell me your story.” Try focusing on the effort placed into the creative process, rather than the end result and product.
Correcting work comes later – once they are more proficient writers and comfortable with the process. This is called editing in Writing Workshop when the children are older.
We don’t want any families to worry about language development.
Please speak to your child’s class teacher if you have any concerns. Indicators of challenges with language development can emerge in K1. If your child’s classroom teacher has concerns, they will be sure to reach out to you. We work with many occupational therapists and speech and language therapists in K1, as we know that early intervention can make a significant difference in language development when concerns arise. It is not unusual for a teacher to reach out and suggest support in the way of some early sessions focused on articulation or fine motor skills. We have a few external specialists that are very familiar with our programme and our school, and even work with our children during school time.
Overall, however, please don’t worry. Your child will progress at their own rate. Our teachers are experienced and our school is well resourced. We have support teachers that work with our teams at every grade level. If your child needs additional support, we will work in collaboration with you to ensure they receive it.
Again, it is important to note that all children develop their literacy skills at their own rate and there is an enormous range of skill found within the Infant School (across the early years of school). These differences tend to level out around Grade 3, as the children grow and develop. It is not helpful or necessary to compare your child to other children of the same age. Rather, compare your child to themselves (Are they progressing?). A learning challenge is often flagged when progress is not evident or limited (not in comparison to other children, but in comparison to your own child’s progress).
How do we choose “good books” for our child’s age? Do you have a list?
The idea of “good books” is very subjective and would depend on who you are asking! We would describe “good books” as books that your child is interested in, and contain rich vocabulary. Good books are books that you can read with your child and enjoy together. Levelled reading books are not “good books” for our K1s. These books are often not very engaging as they focus on decodable language and not on developing an interesting story. Consequently, they can be a bit boring and are not so useful for having meaningful conversations about. They are used mostly for the purpose of reading instruction in K2 and Grade 1.
If you would like some books suggestions for your child, be sure to reach out to your child’s classroom teacher or our Primary School librarian (Mr. Wittig). You can email the library at: librarydover@uwcsea.edu.sg
Overall, however, please don’t worry. Your child will progress at their own rate. Our teachers are experienced and our school is well resourced. We have support teachers that work with our teams at every grade level. If your child needs additional support, we will work in collaboration with you to ensure they receive it.
Again, it is important to note that all children develop their literacy skills at their own rate and there is an enormous range of skill found within the Infant School (across the early years of school). These differences tend to level out around Grade 3, as the children grow and develop. It is not helpful or necessary to compare your child to other children of the same age. Rather, compare your child to themselves (Are they progressing?). A learning challenge is often flagged when progress is not evident or limited (not in comparison to other children, but in comparison to your own child’s progress).
If you would like some books suggestions for your child, be sure to reach out to your child’s classroom teacher or our Primary School librarian (Mr. Wittig). You can email the library at: librarydover@uwcsea.edu.sg
Here is a Dover library link that Mr. Wittig has shared for holiday reading that you might find helpful!
Another local resource we encourage parents to make use of is the Singapore National Library (NLB.) Their collection is wide ranging and very up to date.
Below are a few more suggestions for how you can support your child at home (this is one of the slides from the workshop), with a QR Code taking you to a website that shows how we articulate certain sounds in English (and how to draw your child's attention to this) in support of developing phonemic awareness.
If you have any questions about how to support your child on their literacy journey, please reach out to your child's classroom teacher.
Yours in learning,
The K1 Team
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