First Blog-Advocacy

I am thinking of writing my paper on literacy. There is much concern about the number of illiterate children in the U.S. today and I feel that action needs to be taken to help rectify this problem. I chose to interview an elementary school teacher (1^st grade) and a program director of a private preschool/daycare. A few insights that I gained about literacy is that more and more young children today are ESL learners and struggle with literacy. They are struggling to learn the English language and in turn struggling to learn how to read and write. Also, it has been proven that parents who are illiterate often raise illiterate children. There needs to be a break in this cycle, if that means educating parents as well.

In light of these interviews, my opinions have not really changed much. If anything, these interviews have strengthened my interest in literacy in the field of early childhood. I feel very strongly about all children learning to read and write and hold it in high value. I feel that the three topics in literacy that are of most importance to me are quality curriculums, parent education, and ESL learners.

Questions for my colleagues…

1.      Do you feel that ESL students are at a higher risk of struggling with literacy?

2.      What would you do if you learned of a family that is illiterate?

3.      What types of curriculums do you feel work best when focusing on literacy?