Michael K. Meyerhoff, Ed.D
Most parents are extraordinarily concerned about the development of pre-reading skills. But what, precisely, is a pre-reading skill? The answer to that question lies in an understanding of the various concepts involved in reading and an awareness of the developmental interests and abilities of children during the early years.
Contrary to what mothers and fathers might expect, the first concept to be mastered by young children is not the basic ABCs. Although toddlers and even some infants may be able to recite the alphabet, the letters have little meaning to them.
On the other hand, they can appreciate the notion that individual "parts" can be put together in various ways to form different "wholes." They can appreciate that each part assumes a different function depending on where it is placed. They can appreciate that certain combinations of pieces or parts take on special characteristics. And all of these "construction" concepts form the basic foundations for literacy. Therefore, products such as building blocks and snap-together blocks are especially appropriate.
As they approach and enter the preschool period, children become increasingly fascinated by activities that involve the basic elements of literacy. But before they are prepared to deal with the intricacies and complexities of letters and words, they need to practice and refine their visual discrimination and pattern recognition skills. Products such as simple form boards and stacking rings provide excellent opportunities to do this while having a lot of fun.
Eventually, as they move through the preschool years, children are ready to appreciate the relationship between written words and the objects or events they represent. Products such as letter-themed puzzles and games along with picture books featuring their favorite subjects (animals, boats, etc.) are perfect tools for this process. These products also introduce the concept of phonics Ð the relationship between individual letters and the special sounds they make.
Simultaneously, young children develop the capacity to produce these elements of literacy themselves. After refining and practicing their fine motor skills with products such as finger and brush paints, they start enjoying tools such as crayons and markers which enable them to apply their advancing abilities to the formation of the letters with which they are becoming increasingly familiar.
Finally, as they approach and enter the school years, young children are ready to put everything together Ð but not necessarily all at once. Therefore, it is critical to keep the process of literacy learning pleasurable by respecting each child's unique rate of progress. While more sophisticated story books continue to inspire young children to master reading, a good collection of increasingly complex point-and-name picture books permits them to progress at their own pace and ensure that the path to full literacy will be filled with fun, satisfaction, and success.
Meanwhile, helping their young children develop basic math skills is something that many parents avoid thinking about. After all, for most people, arithmetic was their least favorite of the three R's. The emphasis on rote memorization and the lack of relevancy to "real world" situations combined to make mastering math rather difficult and unpleasant.
But it doesn't have to be that way. By introducing basic math concepts to children in a way that respects their developmental interests and abilities, the acquisition of numeracy skills can be both meaningful and fun. The key is to de-emphasize the complex capacities of adding, subtracting, etc. and focus on the fascinating process of building their underlying foundations.
For example, in and of themselves, numbers have no meaning to infants and toddlers. However, young children are able to recognize that some things are more than, less than, or equal to others. Exploring, investigating, and experimenting with these relationships through play with products such as measuring cups and spoons, building blocks, and stacking rings enables them to understand and appreciate the fundamental concepts that numbers merely represent.
As they enter the preschool period, children are ready to recognize and employ the numbers themselves. However, their first challenge is to apply their expanding abilities to simple tasks such as counting and sorting. Collections of buttons, beads, balls, boxes, or anything else of different colors and sizes permit them to refine and practice the fundamental concepts of ordinality (the principle specifying the "more than" and "less than" relationships between quantities) and cardinality (the principle that the last number in a counting sequence indicates the quantity of items in the set) while simultaneously having lots of fun.
Eventually, as they approach and enter the school years, children are ready to start refining these concepts and employing them in actual mathematical procedures. But it is critical that they be allowed to do so through "concrete" rather than "abstract" experiences. Adding and subtracting numbers in their heads or even on paper can be extremely difficult and confusing. However, pursuing these tasks in a "hands on" manner with products such as dominoes and dice makes them easy and enjoyable.
Finally, children become fairly comfortable with these basic concepts and are prepared to start using them to solve increasingly complex and sophisticated problems. However, making the leap to purely abstract functioning takes many years, and each child progresses at his or her own unique pace. Consequently, classic board games from "Chutes and Ladders" to "Monopoly" are essential for keeping the process of mastering numeracy firmly connected to reality and fully self-regulated Ð therefore ensuring it will always be fun and filled with successful experiences.
Michael K. Meyerhoff, Ed.D., is executive director of The Epicenter Inc., "The Education for Parenthood Information Center," a family advisory and advocacy agency located in Lindenhurst, Illinois. Contact him via e-mail at epicntrinc@aol.com.
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