Child’s Home Experiences In Relation To Language, Literature & Literacy

Henry is a 4 years 8 months old boy who attends preschool. Henry has an older brother who currently attends year 1 at a nearby public school. As a recent immigrant from Guangzhou China, English is his second language with Mandarin being the main language spoken at home with his family. Despite Mandarin being his parents preferred language at home, Henry is reported to at times engage in English conversations with his brother. Coming from an average socio-economic background, Henry’s parents are both relatively well educated, this means that as his parents, Henry’s language and literacy experiences, resources and development are of quality beyond his current schooling context.

Although Mandarin is the main language used at home, Henry’s mother and father value their childrens education dearly meaning that they routinely spend quality time with both their children reading books as well as teaching them how to write in English. Henry’s parents positive attitude towards maintaining their childrens’ high quality Language, literature and literacy learning means that the siblings are enthusiastic learnings who are frequently rewarded with new books. The books purchased are always researched beforehand by Henry’s mother so to ensure that she is providing her children with quality literature by recognized authors.

During times when his parents are unable to read to him, Henry would either ask his brother to read to him instead or he would flick through the book on his own whilst retelling himself the story based off of memory. His current favorite storybooks are the ones written by Dr Seuss. At times Henry has shown interest towards his brother’s harder books and would seek for it to be read to him also. Henry’s parents are also always listening to the Mandarin radio at home. Henry’s other interests include watching popular Mandarin childrens’ shows, drawing – currently it is to trace the letters of new words he has asked to learn, as well as pretend play with his older brother which involve plots similar to those he has seen on television or have read from his books.

The influence of home experiences

As a result of Henry’s enriched language experiences provided at home, his literacy development is significantly better developed compared to those of his peer. The consistent and encouragement and use of bilingualism both across his home and schooling environment means that she is able to maintain a level of proficiency in both his native tongue and second language (Djonov, 2016). Despite at times it seems as though he doesn’t understand or is delayed in response, studies have shown that bilingualism in children often results in them developing a deeper appreciation and understanding in regards to variations of language structures and vocabulary which will help Henry develop certain language capabilities faster and thus better preparing him for later formal literacy education in primary school (Guhn, Milbrath & Hertzman, 2016).

As they are well educated themselves, Henry’s parents when researching for quality literature for their children means that they are able to provide their children with rich and meaningful experiences that engage them whilst providing shared and elaborate reading and learning opportunities (Djonov, 2016). The range of literature provided facilitates Henry’s semantic, vocabulary, phonology and syntax understanding (Whorrall & Cabell, 2016), contributing to Henry’s overall language ad literacy skills. The use of enthusiasm, encouragement, engagement and modelling Henry’s parents use in regards to literature and literacy learning are reflections of their values towards education that motivate them as a family to build these connections the early childhood center and home language experiences (Djonov, 2016). At home, a more personalized one on one sharing experience is possible as it can be tailored to henry’s interests, ability and needs (Fellowes & Oakley, 2014).

The child’s engagement with picture books

Through his many interactions with literature, Henry displays well developed language and literacy understanding as seen when he interacts with books. Henry’s sense of book knowledge and concepts of book is apparent as I am able to observe him read sentences from left to right, not skip or miss pats of texts or pages as well as finishing her current page before proceeding to the next page (Fellowes & Oakley, 2014). Henry’s impressive ability to use existing texts and familiar letters he encountered as reminders as he reads his favorite Hop on Pop by Dr Seuss (Allor & McCathren, 2003). His phonological awareness is also evident as he reads and retells the story to the patterns of rhythm and rhyming words there are (Allor & McCathren, 2003). Finally, Henry displays the use of verbal and characterization techniques when he reads and is able to vary the tone and pitch of his voice as he encounters different characters in the book (Jalongo, 2013).

The child’s skill

As mentioned earlier, Henry displays a well developed skill level in his language and speaking abilities. His abilities are beyond those of his peers of a similar age as his confidence when communicating and ability to understand harder words or ideas as well as his need to longer pauses and slower pacing between words and sentences are better developed when being read to or when he is reading alone (Fellowes & Oakley, 2014).

When reading, Henry can clearly articulate sounds and blended syllabuls that have facilitated his overall fluency in oral language (Fellowes & Oakley, 2014). This confidence extends beyond into Henry’s ideas and opinions sharing with this educators, peers and parents as he comments on the book thus contributing meaningfully to discussions and interactions (Jalongo, 2013).

The child’s attitude

As a result of his parents encouraging and positive attitude towards education, Henry has an enthusiastic and positive disposition in regards to language and literature. This is evident in the observations as he actively seeks out reading experiences and participate in discussions as well as later extend his interests through other forms such as dramatic pretend play (Roush, 2005). Listening intently to the story, Henry is also very immersed in the illustrations that help his decipher what happens next with a sense of wonder, adventure and fantasy that allows him to understand the characters thoughts and emotions as the story progresses (Fellowes & Oakley, 2014).

After observing Henry, you can see that not only does he verbally react to the books but non-verbally also which shows us his emotional investments during the experiences (Schickedanz & Collins, 2013). Moreover, when reading books both on his own or together, Henry is able to find and share his sense of satisfaction whilst also showing a continual interest in whatever the literature was about.