As parents, we should not be afraid to get involved in our child’s language and literacy
assessment process. There are several ways parents can assess their child’s literacy
development. "Research in the field has revealed at least three aspects of early literacy
development which are worth assessing: children’s response to environmental print,
sharing books and stories, and early writing" (Nutbrown, 27). These three aspects of early
literacy development are areas which parents can provide rich language experiences.

Children recognize signs that have meaning to them. A classic example is the
MacDonald’s "M". When children see this symbol they associate the "M" with the name
and the food of the restaurant. Recognizing a stop sign is another example of how young
children begin to develop early literacy skills. The exposure to environmental print will
help your child expand his skills in reading and writing.

Sharing books and stories with your child everyday will also help language and literacy
development. "Children need books first before they can be expected to become
competent book handlers or readers" (Nutbrown, 28). As parents we must give our
children numerous opportunities to handle books. A library is an excellent place to begin.
The Internet also has web sites for children’s stories. Allow times where a discussion
about a book takes place. For example, in the car talk to your child about a story the two
of you recently read together. Reading and discussing books with your child will only
help your child gain knowledge and interest in early literacy. This will also allow you to
be able to assess the performance indicators in the components of Listening, Speaking,
and Literature and Reading, which are outlined in this section.

Young children need opportunities to write. "In the term ‘early writing’ we include
children making marks which look like writing but which may not be conventional"
(Nutbrown, 28). Early writing begins when a child makes a mark and calls it a word or a
letter. A perfect example of early writing is when a child makes squiggles on piece of
paper and tells you it reads "I love you". Those squiggles are just the beginning of
writing.

The following Language and Literacy guidelines give many examples of how a parent can
assess their child’s Language and Literacy development. There are five functional
components of Language and Literacy which are sited from the Work Sampling System,
Omnibus Guidelines Pre-School through Third Grade, Rebus Planning Associates, Inc.
1994. The functional components are Listening, Speaking, Literature and Reading,
Writing, and Spelling. Each functional component has several performance indicators,
which will give parents examples of how a child is showing development at home. In
addition, a list will be provided of web sites for parents to use as educational tools and
resources. This will help parents choose appropriate materials for their child in the
Language and Literacy domain.

*Nutbrown, Cathy; Hannon, Peter. Assessing Early Literacy – New Methods Needed. Division of Education, University of Sheffield, s10 2JA U.K.

     Cited work from Work Sampling System Omnibus Guidelines Preschool through Third Grade 3rd Edition Rebus Planning Associates, INC. Ann Arbor, Michigan

Kindergarten

A Listening

1 Listens for meaning in discussions and conversations.

At five years, children are beginning to pay increased attention to conversations and instructions
that are not directed solely to them. Some children have a more difficult time listening to group
instructions and discussions.

*realizes that it is time for bed when hearing a conversation between parents.

*understands the message of a story either being read to them or through a video.

*listens to answers from questions they have asked about.

Kindergarten

A Listening

2 Follows directions that involve a series of actions.

Children often forget instructions or become distracted before they have completed a series of actions.
The ability to focus and remember is important for the development of logical thinking, allowing the
child to connect ideas and reach conclusions. Children demonstrate these skills by:

*following a set of simple directions (i.e. get your pajamas on, then brush your teeth and
pick out a book for story time).

*being able to retell a set of directions to siblings or other family members.

Kindergarten

B Speaking

1 Speaks clearly, conveying ideas in discussions and conversations.

Although clear articulation may still be a challenge for some five year olds, their speech should be clear and understandable. Many kindergartners have not had extensive opportunity for exploratory conversations, not experience in answering questions with more than single words or short phrases.

Children show emergent kills in this area by:

*retelling a friend or family member the events that happened at school.

*answers the telephone clearly and relies message to parent.

*questions adults or grandparents about various things using more than single words or
short phrases.

Kindergarten

B Speaking

2 Uses language for a variety of purposes.

Five year olds are often fascinated with words and how they sound (for example, rhyming, making up new words, trying out jokes, or making puns). This interest is apparent in the following examples:

*using new words in sentences and having the sentences make sense.

*make up word games or songs that rhyme.

*questions the meaning of words and tries to apply the understanding in their own
conversation.

Kindergarten

C Literature and Reading

1 Listens with interest to stories read aloud.

Interest is a key factor in children’s listening ability. They can often sit for long periods of time
listening to a "good" story, but will squirm and fidget if made to sit still and attend to something that does not capture their interest. Examples of their developing skill in this area include:

*joins family for story time

*chooses books throughout the day to be read aloud by an adult.

*listens to other adults read stories aloud (librarians, grandparents, babysitters)

Kindergarten

C Literature and Reading

2 Shows independent interest in reading-related activities.

As children become familiar with books, they independently begin to explore the wealth of information and pleasure that books provide. This interest and exploration is essential to learning how to read.

Children show a growing interest in books by:

*understands that a person can get information from books. (i.e. looks in a book to see
how an airplane was drawn)

*likes a variety of different books.

*pretends to read Mom’s recipes or Dad’s magazines.

Kindergarten

C Literature and Reading

3 Predicts what will happen next using pictures and content for guides.

As children become more involved with the context of stories, they often want to put their own
thoughts and ideas into the text. Five year olds show involvement in the reading process by:

*uses the pictures of books to help understand the story.

*when at a store looks at the cover of items to understand what it is.

*guessing what kind of item it is from the title of the box (i.e.

soapy suds for bath time fun – bath soap)

Kindergarten

C Literature and Reading

4 Retells information from a story.

An important pre-reading skill is the ability to retell a story in sequence and to show an
understanding of what has been read aloud. Ways children show they can recall what ahs been read to them include:

*after repeatedly reading a familiar story (or watching a video) child acts the story out in
play.

*retells information from days events in sequential order .

*orally tells a story to a family member (with or without props).

Kindergarten

C Language and Reading

5 Recognizes the association between spoken and written words.

Early reading skills include the understanding that written symbols represent specific words that are always the same (the "exit" sign over a store door). The child begins to understand that these words are used to convey specific messages, thoughts, and ideas. Children exhibit this awareness by:

*recognizes familiar signs ("Burger King" or "Stop and Shop").

*able to find their own name on dinner place cards.

*recognizes the words on cereal boxes or other food items.

Kindergarten

D Writing

1 Uses letter-like shapes to depict words or ideas.

As children begin to understand that writing communicates their thoughts to someone else, they
become invested in being able to produce words, even if they do not possess conventional writing and spelling skills. Children this age enjoy:

*writing name on a card for other people’s birthday.

*writes a shopping list of her own (experimenting with letters).

*writing a note for Dad’s lunch.

Kindergarten

D Writing

2 Copies or writes words needed for work or play.

Children begin to understand the power of written words when they see that messages such as
"Please Leave Standing" on a sign in front of a block structure, have an impact. Children show that they understand the power of written words by:

*writes or copies a sign "do not enter" for their room.

*writes or copies a birthday wish list (i.e. copying from a toy catalog)

*writes or copies a thank you note to grandma for the wonderful present.

*copies names of family from photos that are labeled.

Storybook Time

     Children’s storybook online with rebus reading. http://www.magickeys.com/books/

     Bedtime stories including classical stories from long ago. http://the-office.com/bedtime-story/

     Mother Goose Rhymes http://www-personal.umich.edu/~pfa/dreamhouse/nursery/reading.html

     Jan’s Brett’s, a famous author, home page http://janbrett.com/

     Read Madeline stories. http://www.duke.edu/~icheese/madeline.html

     Billy Gnome’s Bedtime stories. http://www.bgammon.freeserve.co.uk/contents.htm

Writing

     Children can write to other children on the Internet.
     http://www.ks-connection.org:80/penpal/penpal.html

     Stories that are for kids and made by kids. http://www.kids.space.org/

     Ongoing story page written by kids. http://geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Glade/2101/

 
Learning

     Kindergarten web site made by a teacher about the alphabet
     http://www2.minot.k12.nd.us/classrooms/madden/index.html

     Theodore Tugboat activities that involve stories with rebus reading, games, puzzles and coloring books. http://www.cochran.com/theodore/default.html

     Billy Bear’s Playground is a fun site that includes holiday fun, learning activities for young children.
     http://www.billybear4kids.com/index.html

     A site for pre-school to sixth grade that has lots of fun learning activities. http://www.funschool.com

     Another web site where kids can learn and play. http://squiglysplayhouse.com/index.html

     Animal alphabet rhymes. http://www.mrtc.org/~twright/animals/english/alphabet.htm

     National Geographic for kids. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/

     Activities for kids. http://www.kidsdomain.com/kids.html

     More activities for kids. http://www.bconnex.net/~kidworld/

     Play to learn with Blue’s Clues and Little Bear. http://www.nickjr.com/

     Alphabet letters and other activities for young children.
     http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Cottage/3099/Alexanspage.html

     Visit Dr. Seuss’ Seussville with activities relating to reading, math, science, and reasoning.
     http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/f_ms_link1.html

     Visit famous children’s shows from PBS such as Sesame Street and Arthur. http://www.pbs.org/

 
Parent Resources

     The Children’s Literature Web Guide http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/index.html

     An early childhood source of information for parents and teachers. http://www.earlychildhood.com/

     Internet yellow pages for kids and families designed by a mom. http://www.netmom.com

     A variety of activities and other web sites parents can use with their children. http://theideabox.com/

     Another family resource of web sites. http://family.go.com/

     Great sites for parent to view for their children.
     http://www.ala.org/parentspage/greatsites/amazing.html

     Best sites for children are rated by the author. http://db.cochran.com/li_toc:theoPagr.db

     A list of readiness skills for kindergartners. http://member.aol.com/Cwright12kinder.html