Page 10 - LESSION 13.pmd

How Children Learn (Early Learning and Teaching)

are highly talkative, while others are quiet. To some extent, these differences
may be inherited, but to a large extent, they are due to the kind of environment
the child gets. By the time children come to preschool, they are already using a Notes
language at home.
Given the right experiences and environment, their vocabulary increases
steadily and rapidly. Educated parents, exposure to toys, pictures, storybooks,
newspapers and a variety of objects around them, opportunities for listening
good quality conversation, stories, rhymes, songs, etc., opportunities for
talking and expressing their ideas to adults and other children, opportunities
for play, exposure to television, radio, puppet shows, outings and excursions
extend their experiences.

Children from disadvantaged homes, or where parents do not get enough time to
interact with their children, often do not get the benefit of all these experiences.
This deprivation can be compensated to a considerable extent through a meaningful
preschool programme. As far as possible, the medium of interaction in early
childhood must be home language of the child.

Major areas that need attention for transaction of language and early
literacy activities are:
• Development of listening skills (sound discrimination, listening span,
listening comprehension).

• Development of vocabulary related to body, home and environment (physical,
natural and social environment).
• Development of speaking skills and oral expression (conversation, story-
telling, dramatisation, puppet play, picture reading, creative self-expression).

• Development of reading readiness (auditory/sound discrimination, visual
discrimination, auditory-visual association, left-to-right directionality).
• Development of writing readiness (fine muscle development, eye-hand
coordination, letter perception).

Children improve language and literacy by activities like narrating and listening to
stories, conversation on project/theme, recalling the story, simple riddles, group
games, listening to clues and completing a thought. Simple tasks of picture
reading, helping children follow simple instructions, spotting the odd man out
are good for recall and expressive vocabulary.

Activities of performance: Action rhymes, dramatisation, role play, puppet play,
oral expression, nature walk, creating sentences using vocabulary related to home,
body, fruits, vegetables, etc., are essential for developing listening, expressing
and speaking skills. These activities can be done with three to six year olds and
also with six and eight years olds. For older children, complexity of the story or
instruction may be increased. Free conservation helps children express and share

EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION 69