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Christina FeliceProfessor OfeimuECE 151521 February 2017Part OneWith the literacy rate so low in the United States, it may come to no surprise for some that statistically 14 percent of American adults are illiterate (Lake). It has also been proven that if a child is struggling with reading by fourth grade, the child will be four times more likely to drop out of high school (Lake). Many prisons look at the literacy rate amongst third graders to plan for the future of their prisons (Lake). These are all devastating statistics that drastically need to change. There are many factors that may play into why America is rated so low on the literacy scale. More importantly, what can be done to improve the literacy rate in the United States? One of the most important factors in the development of literacy skills is early intervention. The success rate of literacy improves when a child is introduced at an early age to books, songs, phonics, speech, and writing utensils. It is a child’s job to learn and observe, so the earlier the introduction to literacy, the more successful a child will be in the future.Parents play a crucial role in the development of their children’s development of literacy skills, as a child’s first teachers are the caregivers. Modern parents may be unintentionally spending too much time glued to their technology devices, and not enough time speaking with their children. Many children learn simple rules of grammar at an early age strictly through conversations with those more advanced in language (Rathus 304). Children may learn when to properly use pronouns, conjunctions, and prepositions in a sentence simply by reciprocated speech with an adult (Rathus 304). If adults are spending less time interacting and speaking with their children, the children suffer the consequences by having an underdeveloped vocabulary. In fact, the amount of words a child hears by age three directly affects his/her cognitive abilities and reading comprehension in the following years (“Importance of Early Literacy”).In most cases, the parent or legal guardian of a child is the most prevalent adult in a child’s life, which is why it is so crucial for parents to understand the significance of their role in literacy development in their child. Many parents may feel that their children are sent to school to learn how to read and write. Though it has been proven that preschool plays an important role in a young child’s academic development and preparation for upcoming school years, many basic life skills begin at home. This does not exclude academic skills such as literacy. Parents may also feel that they are not particularly equipped to teach their child how to develop basic literacy skills. However, many parents may already be teaching their child how to read, write, and speak without even realizing they are doing it. Just because a parent’s career may not be a teacher does not mean that a parent is not arguably the most important teacher in a child’s life. By providing parents with facts and tips on how to increase a young child’s literacy abilities, parents may feel more prepared and empowered to teach their children early literacy skills.I am fortunate enough to work in a preschool program where I have immediate access to parents of young children, ranging in ages from three-years-old to five-years-old. Many of these children also have younger siblings that could be assisted by the information provided to these parents. I also have many good relationships with other teachers in the district and in our building that may be willing to allow me to inform the parents in their classrooms of the important role parents play in the development of their child’s literacy skills.Part TwoIn America’s advanced first-world society, the average United States citizen reads up to 3,000 words per day (Lakeland Library Regional Staff). Some may find it difficult to imagine a life without reading. Whether it is a book, a street sign, restaurant menus, or incoming text messages, many Americans are constantly using literacy skills. However, for as advanced as we may perceive ourselves as American citizens, a shocking 14 percent of Americans are illiterate (Lake). Perhaps even more shocking is that the United States ranks 45th place on the literacy scale in comparison to other countries of the world (CIA World Factbook). With Andora, Finland, Greenland, and North Korea ranking as the top four literate countries in the world, we must stop to ask ourselves what could we do to improve our literacy skills (CIA World Factbook)?One of the most important steps towards developing a child’s literacy skills is also one of the first steps a parent may take. Getting a child involved with books and reading at an early age is crucial for the child’s development and interest in reading later in life (“Importance of Early Literacy”). According to an advocacy group called Make Way for Books, a whopping 90 percent of a child’s brain is developed by five-years-old. Therefore, it is extremely important that a child is able to build a larger vocabulary by age five through conversing with adults and peers, listening to books, and singing (“Importance of Early Literacy”). These simple steps can cause a child to flourish academically in the following grade-school years. Studies show that children who have developed these early literacy skills by age five are 70 percent more likely to graduate high school (“Importance of Early Literacy”). On the flip side, when children start school with a lack of literacy skills, it is difficult for them to bridge the necessary gaps in order to catch up with their peers (“Importance of Early Literacy”). A child that is struggling to read by the fourth grade is four times more likely to drop out of high school than a child that was read to at an early age (“Importance of Early Literacy”). Simply reading to a child prior to Kindergarten can make a world of a difference (“Importance of Early Literacy”)Of course, reading aloud to a child, rhyming, and singing are all more than helpful ways to begin the development of a child’s literacy knowledge base. However, there are many other activities adults may do to enhance a young child’s literacy skills. One of the most basic activities an adult may do to aid in literacy knowledge is to talk aloud while doing simple household tasks (Gorski). Whether it is cooking, cleaning, or just thinking out loud, an adult has the vocabulary to describe every single thing he/she is doing throughout the day in the presence of a young child, whereas a young child has not developed that vocabulary quite yet. Not only are children developing vocabulary through conversation with adults, they are also developing early grammar skills and knowledge (Rathus 304). Children may begin to understand the use of pronouns, conjunctions, and propositions through basic conversation (Rathus 304). Talking to a child is absolutely essential in a child’s development of early literacy skills.Phonological awareness is another area of literacy that a child may struggle to develop if the child is not introduced to the concept early in life (Gorski). It is never too early to begin phonological development with a child. Drawing attention to rhyming words while teaching a child nursery rhymes or reading a rhyming book to a child will allow the child to grow into a basic understanding of what does and does not cause two words to rhyme (Gorski). Explaining the beginning phenomes of words that begin with the same letter have also proven beneficial while reading and rhyming. By the time a child is in preschool, he/she is on the verge of grasping the concept of reading (Gorski). By introducing phonological concepts to a child at a younger age, the child will have a much easier time understanding the logistics behind what makes a word sound the way it does.There are many strategies and activities that will aid in a young child’s literacy development. Children may have a greater success rate in school if parents and teachers are educated on the importance of early literacy, along with creative on the strategies and activities that teach children these necessary life skills. Other Early Literacy Advocacy GroupsWilliam Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund focuses on educating parents about the importance of literacy at a young age. Out and Read combines pediatric care with the importance of literacy by providing books to children in up to 10 pediatric office visits beginning in infancy. National is a group that focuses on the development of writing skills between the ages of six to eighteen years old. Adventure allows children to read many popular books online for free and tests their comprehension following the reading. Parton’s Imagination Library provides families who are enrolled with one book per month from birth to five years of age. Book is a nonprofit organization focused towards providing low income families with a first book for their child. ThreeThe first part of my plan of action is to pass out a survey into the cubbies of the children in my classroom to ask parents about their knowledge of early literacy intervention. The surveys will be anonymous in hopes to receive the most honest answer I can get from parents. The information I will be requesting from parents will include questions such as, “What is early literacy intervention?” and “Do you use or have you used any strategies to teach your child literacy skills? If so, what strategies?” Passing out these surveys will allow me to collect information in regards to the families that will be immediately impacted by the information I will be relaying to them. This information will also be useful for the research portion of my project. I will pass out the surveys on March 6th in hopes to have all of the surveys returned by March 13th. The second part of my plan of action is to produce and pass out flyers on the importance of early literacy intervention into the cubbies of the students in my classroom for their parents to read. The information provided on these flyers will include facts on early literacy, as well as some statistics on literacy as a whole in the United States. These facts will include information such as the average reading level of today’s adults, where the United States ranks on the scale of literacy in the world, and the number of illiterate adults in America. Parents will learn about the importance of their role on literacy development and will gain knowledge of many different strategies they can use to help improve their child’s interest and ability to read, write, and speak. I will also include a few programs that promote early literacy such as Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, events at the Rochester Hills Public Library, and information on Authors in April with the month of April quickly approaching. I believe parents will appreciate the information on how to receive free books, as well as events that can get their children more involved in reading. I plan to pass these out on March 20th. I will also e-mail a copy of these flyers to several other early childhood teachers in the Rochester school district, in hopes they will forward the e-mail to the parents in their classrooms, or print out the flyers to put in cubbies in their own classrooms. By passing this information along to other teachers, I will broaden the spectrum of parents I will reach with my information. Many teachers in the district are parents of young children as well, so this information will not only be beneficial to the parents of their students, but it will be beneficial to them as well. The schools I specifically hope to reach are Hamlin Elementary School, North Hill Elementary School, and the GSRP program located at Hart Middle School.Following the flyers, I will pass out another survey to the parents and teachers in my classroom asking if the information I passed out was beneficial. I will also ask on my survey if parents have tried any of the strategies I have given them regarding early literacy skills, and if they learned any new information from my flyers. This will allow me to assess the success of my advocacy project. I will also follow up with the teachers that I forwarded my information to, in hopes they would have some feedback based on their own opinions and the opinions of the parents in their classrooms as well. I will send out the second survey on March 27th, allowing parents and teachers one week to look over the pamphlets and try some of the strategies provided.I also have placed my flyers in the school office of Hamlin Elementary for parents and teachers to take with them at their own free will. It is more difficult to measure the success from placing the flyers in the office, but I am hopeful that many of the flyers will be taken and that I will reach more individuals throughout the school this way.Part FourI believe I reached the goals I had set for this project. I was able to inform parents on the importance in early literacy, as well as provide strategies to improve the literacy skills amongst their children by passing out flyers in my classroom, as well as two others. I was also able to provide parents with several local and national resources that may get their child more interested and involved with reading. My favorite resource that I was unaware of prior to this project was Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. I have already had three families tell me that they have signed their children up for this program. These families will be eligible to receive one free book per month until their children turn five-years-old. Another great program that I informed GSRP families about was called First Book. I only informed the GSRP families of this program because it is specifically directed towards low-income families, however, I believe I should have informed all of the families in all of the programs of this resource because the information could have still been useful and relevant. If I were to do this project again, I would start at the beginning of the semester. This would allow for more time to accurately plan out my project. Though I think my project had a lot of strengths, I think it could have been more successful if I had more time to inform more parents.My advice for anyone planning an advocacy project in the future is to make this a group project. I believe if you work with other people, you will be able to spread information farther. It is also nice to work in a group because you can bounce ideas and knowledge off one another. I may have been able to avoid some of the mistakes I made in my project by working in a group. I would also recommend starting the project at the beginning of the semester. By starting early, you will have more time to plan out your project. If you hit any bumps in the road, you will have plenty of time to fix your errors and move forward.Works Cited"11 Facts about Literacy in America."? | Volunteer for Social Change. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2017. <;."Country Comparison Literacy."?Literacy - Country Comparison. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2017. <;."Importance of Early Literacy."?Make Way For Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2017. <, Deb. "Building Literacy Every Day."?Get Ready to Read. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2017. <, Rebecca. "Shocking Facts: 23 Statistics on Illiteracy in America."?CreditDonkey. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2017. <, Spencer A.?Childhood & Adolescence: Voyages in Development. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2014. Print. ................
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