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AEP Online |
A+ Advice for ParentsWhy are you testing my kindergartener's literacy skills?By Leanna Landsmann Q: We received a notice about our daughter Leitha's kindergarten registration this spring. It has the usual requests for birth certificate and health information, but there is one I'm not familiar with. It says to schedule an "early literacy screen" as part of registration. When my son started kindergarten three years ago he didn't have this. What is it, what's its purpose, and how can we prepare her to do well on it? A: An early literacy screening is a simple assessment that tells teachers which reading and writing readiness skills a child will bring to kindergarten and those she still needs to succeed with formal instruction. Knowing the alphabet, understanding that sounds correspond to letters, recognizing rhymes and patterns, awareness of print, interest in reading and learning new words are just some of the "early literacy skills" educators look for when a child comes to kindergarten. These skills provide the foundation for success in the early elementary grades. Schools make early literacy screenings part of kindergarten registration for several reasons, says Marsha Sonnenberg, a Texas-based reading specialist and U.S. Department of Education Early Reading First adviser. One is that "many children who have been to preschool or whose parents have read to them are ready for formal instruction," says Sonnenberg. "The screening helps us identify those kids so we don't bore them to pieces when they get to school by teaching them what they already know." The screening also helps educators zero in on skills children still need to learn. Sonnenberg provides an example. "A child may know the alphabet but not know the sounds that letters make and understand that the sounds we say and hear are connected to the letters and words we read. This is a critically important early reading skill. If the screening shows that a child lacks it, teachers can provide parents with activities such as rhyming games and songs to help develop it in the months before kindergarten." "Most important," says Sonnenberg, "the screening helps educators identify potential learning disabilities early so a child can be tested further prior to entering kindergarten. This way a child can get proper interventions from the get-go. Too often, in years past, problems weren't diagnosed until students began to struggle as readers. By the time they landed in the third grade, they were discouraged and hated reading." Research by Dr. Grover Whitehurst, now director of the Institute of Educational Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, showing the link between early language experiences and success in reading, lead to many of today's screening tools. Whitehurst believes that early intervention can help prevent a cycle of failure. "Children who have problems early continue to have problems. It's a vicious cycle, and it just gets worse and worse." (Parents can access Whitehurst's early literacy screen at getreadytoread.org. Click "screening tool."). There are a variety of screening tools, notes Sonnenberg. Some are paper and pencil, others use computers. Some are done simply through a teacher interview. Some include movement to assess large and small motor abilities. "Remember, these are broad screening tools. Their purpose isn't to determine the path of a child's school career but to give teachers a sense of where they are on the spectrum of early reading and writing skills and to identify potential problems early." Can you help prepare Leitha for the early literacy screening? "Don't make a big deal out of it or call it a test," says Marsha Sonnenberg. "Encourage her to be comfortable and confident. You can't really practice for the screening, but do continue to help Leitha expand her literacy skills between now and the start of school." Reading specialist tip To build early literacy skills, continue to read aloud to your daughter every day, says Marsha Sonnenberg. "Reread favorites, tell stories, make up your own, sing songs, recite nursery rhymes, and talk about what happened during your day. Ask her questions that require sentence responses, not one-word answers. Make explicit references to reading and writing in your conversations. "If you're in a restaurant, point out that the waiter is writing down the order. In a doctor's office? Point out that the doctor is writing a prescription. Need to find directions to a place? Show Leitha how you're looking it up on the Internet and printing out a map. Expand her world by taking trips to area places such as parks, nature preserves, airports, even the post office, local mall and supermarkets. Use relevant vocabulary such as, "The airplane is taking off. It is speeding down the runway." Don't worry about the screening "Keep your eye on a larger goal," says Sonnenberg, and that's sending Leitha to kindergarten with an affection for books, a strong vocabulary, and a desire to become a reader and writer." Copyright 2007, United Feature Syndicate, Inc. A-PLUS ADVICE FOR PARENTS 3-5-07 Submission inquiries? Contact Dave Gladney at 856-241-7772 or dgladney@AEPweb.org.
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