Portfolio Page 2.2

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 4-4^1/2 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.

 

References

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 (5^th ed., pp. 56-57). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.