Outcome 2.2 – Recognises subtle difference & levels
in literacy and numerical learning and development according to age, ability,
culture & social circumstances
Through reading a couple of readings about children’s
literacy and numeracy development at different ages, I have been able to
recognise the differences and levels in literacy and development. From the
readings I have been able to create a couple of lists to outline some of the
numeracy and literacy concepts that children are able to learn at each age
between birth to four and I have also written how I can support children’s
learning and development from looking at these lists.
Mathematical Concepts
for infants and toddlers (Geist, 2009, pp. 150-152)
· Infants aged between 6-12 months: - Children at this age can understand that
when something is visible and then it is hidden behind something, that object
is still there.
- They can begin to understand the concepts of
distance such as near and far.
· Infants/Toddlers aged between 12-18 months: - Children
at this age begin to understand a group of objects represents a quantity. For
example they can are able to see that a group of objects has less or more
objects than another group.
- Children are also able to put items that are
alike together. For example they are able to put objects of the same colour
together in a group.
· Toddlers aged between 24-36 months: - Children can understand number concepts
such as one to one correspondence and counting some numbers. Examples of these
could include playing musical chairs and understanding how there’s one chair
for each person and then as one chair goes then the one to one correspondence
disappears. When counting numbers, children at this age don’t understand the
quantity of the numbers as such but they know how to recite the numbers like
the alphabet.
-
Children can learn how to build towers using
different shaped objects.
-
Children are able to understand the concepts of
big and small.
-
Children are able to put objects into sequences
such as from smallest to biggest.
Development
Milestones in Preschool Mathematics (Geist, 2009, p.192)
· Children aged between 3-4 years: - children are able to count number sequences
such as from 1 to 4 however they can still find it hard to understand the
quantity of these numbers. I think this is true to a certain extent however
with extra support from parents or teachers, children at this age can
understand the quantities that numbers represent.
- Children are able to begin to understand
measurement concepts such as weight and length and knowing how long something
should be.
-
Children are able to collect objects and put
them into different sorts of data.
· Children aged between 4-41/2
years: - Children are able to understand
number sequences and the quantity that each number respresents.
-
Children are able to identify shapes in 2D and
3D that are of different sizes.
-
Children are able to put items into specific
categories.
From looking at these tables it has helped me to be able to learn and understand how I can support infants and toddlers with their numeracy development at different ages through creating different experiences that include learning different mathematical concepts. These tables have helped me to understand the differences in numerical learning as each age group learns different concepts. Children’s learning can vary though as some children can learn concepts at a younger or older age than other children so I believe that it is good to be able to have some more challenging activities for children as well to stretch their learning and knowledge. These tables do show many differences in what children learn when they are young to what they are able to learn when they are 4 years old. These tables are very helpful in also knowing the types of numeracy related experiences that I as a teacher can provide for children at these different ages. I believe when creating experiences it is also good to observe the child’s abilities to do things and see what they can understand and what they can’t understand as this will also be helpful in knowing how to support their numeracy development. I will use these tables as a guideline when I plan experiences for children of different age groups as they are a good guideline, however I will also change and adapt them for children as each child has different learning styles.
Literacy Language
Milestones (Jalongo, 2011, pp. 56-57)
· Children from birth begin to communicate through
crying. Then as they gradually reach 11 months old, they learn to use gestures,
different vocal noises, using smiles, making syllable sounds such as ma and da
and imitating different sounds using gibberish.
To support children’s literacy
development at this age, I can communicate in different ways to these children
through singing songs, talking, showing picture books, making noises with them
and playing different games that help them to communicate.
· Children from 12 months can learn to communicate
through using single words. Then as they reach 3 years old, they are able to
put a few words into a sentence and become more sociable through wanting to
talk with others.
At these ages I think as a
teacher I would need to help to develop children’s vocabularies through
providing them with experiences that help them to learn new words. Creating
experiences where children can make meanings are important to help them with
their development. Reading books with children is also important as this also
helps them to learn new words.
· Children at the age of 4 years usually have a
vocabulary of around 1,400 to 1,600 words. Children this age are able to
communicate and relate to others their age. They are able to play more with
children and problem solve.
To help support children’s literacy learning at four years
old, I can provide them with experiences that will help to expand their
vocabularies such reading different kinds of books, communicating with children
as much as possible so that they are able to use their vocabularies. I could
teach them a new word each day that is complex as children do like to learn
words that can be challenging.
From looking at the different age groups for literacy
development, I can see that there are many differences in how children learn
literacy in each age group. I believe that this table is just a guideline
though as to how children develop, as some children and learn quicker than
others depending on what support they are getting at home and in the early
learning centre. So it is important to know that each child is different in
what they have learned and it is important to be able to provide experiences
that will be able to support each child’s literacy development. As a teacher I
believe it will be important to provide the children with many literacy experiences
as possible that will help them to make meanings and connections with the world
around them so they will be able to develop skills that they will be able to
use as they continue to grow older.
Children who speak English as a second language would also need greater
support to develop literacy skills and this is something to take into
consideration when creating experiences for children.
Geist, E. (2009). Infants and Toddlers. In Children Are Born Mathematicians: supporting
Mathematical Development, Birth to Age 8 (pp.150-152). Upper Saddle River,
New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
Geist, E. (2009). Preschool age. In Children Are Born Mathematicians: supporting Mathematical Development,
Birth to Age 8 (p.192). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education
Inc.
Jalango, M. R. (2011). Understanding language
development in early childhood. In Early
Childhood Language Arts (5th ed., pp. 56-57). Upper Saddle
River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
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