Literacy
Literacy, numeracy and mathematical thinking are woven within the fabric of all conversations, interactions and experiences. They are everywhere in the environment. They are part of a child’s everyday life and are fundamental to all other learning.
Realising the Ambition - Being Me - 2020
Welcome
These literacy pages will be regularly updated to give support, share new ideas and professional development opportunities that will enable all staff in early years settings to provide high quality experiences.
If you have something you want to share or want to see on these pages then please contact us and we will do our best meet your request.
Realising the Ambition (2020:70) reminds us that our ability to use language unlocks all areas of learning. Children’s language development thrives through exposure to environments of rich and diverse spoken language experiences. We grow a sense of purpose for the child by our own use of language and engaging them with a wide variety of stories, rhymes, songs, symbols and texts in different media all around them. Building this purpose helps to nurture engagement and encourages children to see themselves as readers and writers. This doesn’t just happen by chance.
We, the practitioners, are the catalyst to this.
Literacy in Early Years - what does it include?
Literacy in the early years includes storytelling, talking about books, print in the environment, early mark making and writing, as well as sharing books and reading. The National Improvement Framework emphasises the fundamental importance of literacy in early years settings and the need to develop and provide high quality literacy experiences and opportunities, a similar message was also relayed by Scotland’s nursery inspectors as they back campaigns to improve children’s early language skills to help close persistent gaps in attainment and this emphasises the fundamental importance of literacy in the early years setting.
This web page intends to support you to provide high quality literacy experiences that nurture and encouraging children to develop language skills, mark make, read and enjoy books.
Introducing literacy into your childcare setting doesn’t have to be confined to the printed ink on a page. Chatting away in funny voices as you flick through picture books, enjoying interactive eBooks together, listening to stories being told via video or audio and singing nursery rhymes can all spark communication and literacy learning. Essentially it is ideas and questions that the activities promote that create the foundation for developing reading and writing skills.
Literacy Rich Environment
A literacy rich environment emphasises the importance of using materials and interactions which facilitate literacy opportunities in the areas of:
•language (talking, listening, vocabulary)
•pre-writing skills (drawing, creative use of materials, writing)
•emergent reading skills (use of different kinds of reading materials and stories, ideas, sounds, letters and words)
A child’s literacy experience can be enriched by the people and the physical environment around them. Children learn by doing, thinking, exploring and interacting, and providing literacy as a stimulus is therefore very important. Providing a range of quality literacy experiences and a print-rich physical environment is an important factor in the facilitation and support of literacy learning. It may be useful to review the learning environment using the following tools
Discussion Question for Self-Evaluation and Development
Literacy rich envrionmnt final.pdfIs your setting a literacy rich environment?
This document can help you evaluate, develop and record the impact on your setting as a literacy rich environment.
Literacy Rich Environment - Links to Curriculum for Excellence and East Lothian Frameworks
Developing a literacy rich environment stimulates a natural curiosity and emerges the children in opportunities to engage with literacy where they can begin to explore and develop their literacy skills. Highlighted below are the experiences and outcomes you will begin to provoke through literacy rich provision and can then support and develop adding depth, breadth, progression and challenge
