Literacy in the Lives of Infants and Toddlers

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Literacy in the Lives of Infants and Toddlers

• Dallas Can ECDC
• Samuel Horn, M.Ed.
• Program Manager
• jhorn_at_texanscan.org
• 469-583-7335

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In This Session We Will

• Define literacy for infants and toddlers
• Discuss developmentally appropriate literacy
  strategies for caregivers and families
• Discuss criteria for choosing books for infants
  and toddlers
• Role play talking and reading with infants and
  toddlers
• Receive a reference list of books for infants and
  toddlers

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Defining Curriculum for Infants and Toddlers

• Curriculum for infants and toddlers is what you
  do every day
• It includes all routines and activities
• It should be flexible and follow the childs lead
• It is more individualized than preschool
  curriculum

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But how can you teach literacy if they cant
even talk?

• By understanding what roles literacy plays in the
  daily lives of infants and toddlers

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How Does Literacy Fit In?

• Receptive Language Talk to Them
• Brain research shows that the first three years
  are a window of opportunity for language
  development
• By talking with infants and toddlers during daily
  routines and activities, caregivers expose them
  to new vocabulary and help wire their brain for
  language

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How Does Literacy Fit In?

• Expressive Language Hear and Respond
• The first time a newborn cries and has his/her
  needs met by a caregiver, the baby starts to
  learn that language is used to communicate with
  others
• When a caregiver recognizes the very young
  childs attempts to communicate verbally and
  responds, the child is more likely to continue
  the attempts, which increases expressive language
  development

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How Does Literacy Fit In?

• Book Handling From Mouthing to Page Turning
• Infants use all of their senses to explore books
  and make sense of what they can do with them
• Caregivers model book handling by reading out
  loud to infants and toddlers and letting them
  help to turn pages
• Older infants and toddlers will start to handle
  books in more conventional ways by turning pages
  back and forth as they look at pictures

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How Does Literacy Fit In?

• Reading Books A New Language
• When caregivers read stories or say nursery
  rhymes, infants begin to hear a difference
  between conversational speech and book speech
• When older infants and toddlers turn the pages of
  a book and babble/label pictures/tell a story,
  they are beginning to understand the function of
  books

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How Does Literacy Fit In?

• Fine Motor Skills Practice Using the Hands
• Infants and toddlers need opportunities
  throughout the day to explore with their hands
• Caregivers who provide lots of hands-on
  exploration allow infants and toddlers to learn
  through their senses and develop the fine motor
  skills that will eventually be used in writing

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How Does Literacy Fit In?

• Daily Routines Language-Rich Environment
• Caregivers who describe what they are doing
  during routines help infants and toddlers know
  what to expect and expose them to language
  throughout the day
• Use of transition songs or rhymes during routines
  helps infants and toddlers discriminate book
  talk from conversation, and is a precursor to
  being able to listen to books read aloud
• Caregivers who make favorite books available
  during diaper changes, naps, and other routines
  begin to instill the idea that reading is a
  source of enjoyment and should be a daily
  occurrence

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• To choose books for a baby or toddler, we need
  to know about what the child can do .
• -Judith A. Schickedanz,
• Much More Than the ABCs

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Birth to 3 Months

• Need head support when sitting on lap
• Spend lots of time looking around
• Vision is fuzzy
• See best at 7-8 inches away from face
• Notice patterns with large details
• Prefer patterns with sharp contrast in colors
• Grasping is a reflex, not voluntary
• Respond to child-directed speech
• First language is crying cooing is added by 3
  months

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Literacy Strategies

• Basic needs take up most of the newborns daily
  schedule
• It is difficult to hold a book and support the
  infants head at the same time
• Books can be displayed along the crib and on the
  floor where infants are active but do not
  overstimulate by surrounding the baby with books
• Caregivers can introduce book speech by
  reciting nursery rhymes and chants from memory

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Choosing Books for Infants Toddlers

• Birth to 3 Months
• Must be interesting visually
• Large, simple pictures with a contrasting
  background (ex. Black and white patterning)
• Books should stand up independently (cardboard)
• Fold-out pages can be stretched out to make one
  long panel

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4 to 6 Months

• Able to reach and grasp, but thumb is not yet
  opposable
• Will mouth everything
• Like to bang and wave objects very focused on
  using their hands
• Usually start to sit up by 6 months
• Add consonants to cooing
• Make raspberry sounds
• Can have conversations with caregivers by
  taking turns making sounds

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Literacy Strategies

• Caregivers can now easily hold the baby and the
  book
• Infants will explore the book with mouth and
  hands more often than visually
• Caregivers can provide a toy for the infants
  mouth and hands to increase the time spent
  looking at the book
• Caregivers can add actions to the familiar
  nursery rhymes and chants to make the process an
  interactive game (ex. This Little Piggy)

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Choosing Books for Infants Toddlers

• 4 to 6 Months
• Cloth and vinyl books are most appropriate for
  this age because they are easy to grasp, can be
  mouthed, and are washable
• Infants still enjoy simple pictures with
  contrasting backgrounds
• Cloth books may fade during washing, so pick
  especially bright illustrations

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7 to 9 Months

• Now able to use both hands to manipulate an
  object
• Can turn pages of certain types of books
• Very interested in what objects will do, leading
  to crushing, ripping, etc.

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Literacy Strategies

• Caregivers can now share a book with infants for
  longer time periods
• Book reading is primarily labeling the pictures
• Babies now enjoy books with rhythmic language
  books with a story and plot are not interesting
  yet
• Infants may want to hold and explore the book
  during the reading
• Caregivers should let the baby manipulate the
  book and continue to talk about the pictures,
  instead of trying to keep the book out of the
  babys hands
• Caregivers should not try to force the infant to
  let them finish the book focus on the process of
  exploration

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Choosing Books for Infants Toddlers

• 7 to 9 Months
• Choose cardboard books more often than cloth or
  vinyl cardboard pages are easier for the infant
  to turn independently
• Books with paper pages will most likely be torn,
  crumpled, and mouthed and should not be used
  independently caregivers can read them aloud and
  store in a safe place
• Little Chunky books are designed for easy
  page-turning

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9 to 12 Months

• Fine motor skills become more developed
• By 12 months can probably put large pegs in holes
  and pull pop beads apart
• May start walking and/or utter first word
• Receptive language is about 50 words expressive
  language is 1-2 words
• May bring books and toys to caregiver to initiate
  activity
• Starts teething

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Literacy Strategies

• Provide a teething ring to decrease book chewing
  for teething infants
• Caregivers can follow a 4-step process to
  scaffold during the book reading
• 1. Get the infants attention Look at that!
• 2. Ask a labeling question What do you see?
• 3. Wait for a response, or provide a response if
  the baby does not answer in some way
• 4. Provide feedback expand on the babys
  response

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Choosing Books for Infants Toddlers

• 9 to 12 Months
• Infants are now more interested in the books
  contents than its physical properties
• Choose books with pictures of objects and events
  that are familiar to the infants world
• Cardboard books are still the most appropriate
  for the infants hands
• Avoid stories for preschoolers replicated in
  cardboard form

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12 to 18 Months

• Expressive language increases greatly
• Very interested in naming things
• By 18 months may be using 2-word sentences
• Uses holophrases one word to convey different
  meanings
• Starts using objects for pretend play

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Literacy Strategies

• Children of this age still like pictures to be
  named, and they will often repeat what the
  caregiver says
• Caregivers can give more details and facts about
  the picture after labeling it
• When reading predictable books, such as nursery
  rhymes, caregivers should slow down to give the
  child a chance to chime in
• Caregivers should be flexible during the reading
  to allow the child to go find familiar objects
  that are in the book

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Choosing Books for Infants Toddlers

• 12 to 18 Months
• Infants now enjoy books with familiar characters
  and familiar roles (mommies or daddies, other
  children, animals)
• Since they are just beginning to sing, they may
  enjoy books with songs and musical books
• By 18 months, toddlers may be interested in books
  with actual stories that relate to their own
  experience
• Choose theme books with related pages and a few
  words, but no plot

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19 to 30 Months

• Talks in sentences more frequently
• Is increasingly able to answer questions about
  recent events
• Interest in how things work increases
• Asks lots of why questions
• Pretend play often happens in sequences
• Often wants to be independent and dependent at
  the same time

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Literacy Strategies

• Caregivers can have extensive book conversations
  with older toddlers
• These conversations should relate what is
  happening in the book to the childs own
  experiences
• Caregivers should ask questions that give the
  child opportunities to share thoughts and feelings

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Choosing Books for Infants Toddlers

• 19 to 30 Months
• Toddlers now enjoy actual stories about things
  that might be happening in their own lives (ex.
  using the potty, separation anxiety, bed time,
  trying new foods)
• Choose books with pictures on every page and a
  small amount of text
• Choose books with text closely related to the
  pictures
• Choose predictable books so toddlers can guess
  what will happen next or chime in with repetitive
  phrases

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Role Playing Activity

• Get into groups of 3-4
• Send a group member to choose one book
• In your group, decide which age group this book
  would be most suitable for and why
• Discuss what literacy strategies you would use to
  share the book with a child in that age group
• Model these strategies within your group
• Volunteers share with the larger group

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Imagination Library

• Dolly Partons program to provide 1 free book
  each month from birth to age 5 in participating
  counties
• Governor Bredesens Books From Birth Foundation
  has made it possible for all 95 Tennessee
  counties to participate
• Parents/guardians fill out and return a
  registration brochure for their county
• Visit http//www.governorsfoundation.org/county.ht
  m to find contact information for each county

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Sources Used

• Schickedanz, J.A. (1999). Much More Than the
  ABCs The Early Stages of Reading and Writing.
  NAEYC, Washington, DC.
• Dombro, A.L., Colker, L. J., Dodge, D.T.
  (1997). The Creative Curriculum for Infants
  Toddlers, revised ed. Teaching Strategies, Inc.,
  Washington, DC.
• Neuman, S.B., Copple, C., Bredekamp, S. (2000).
  Learning to Read and Write Developmentally
  Appropriate Practices for Young Children. NAEYC,
  Washington, DC.
• http//www.governorsfoundation.org/ - Governors
  Books From Birth Foundation web site
• http//www.imaginationlibrary.com/ - Dolly
  Partons Imagination Library web site

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• Dallas Can ECDC
• Samuel Horn, M.Ed.
• Program Manager
• jhorn_at_texanscan.org
• 469-583-7335