Get Your Child Ready for Kindergarten (and Start Early) (eBook)

Chapter 2

Learning Language is Where it all Begins

As an educator, I have always been extremely interested in the process of scaffolding. Scaffolding was one of those buzz words I would hear during my time as an education student. But the term, and what it stands for, has stood the test of time in the circle of educational trends. Scaffolding means exactly what it sounds like: It is when you build knowledge on top of prior knowledge. Many concepts are learned in a scaffolded order. Without a strong foundation in one area, we may be weak in everything we build on top of that. Think of a building. If the foundation is not strong, if there are gaps in the bottom tier, everything above that has the potential to be faulty or crumble.

Foundations are extremely important in the early years of learning too. Babies do not learn to run before they crawl. Likewise, children will not learn to read well if they do not have solid foundations in language, meaning, and sounds. Scaffolding new knowledge on top of prior knowledge is key.

Preparing your child for life as a student begins years before your child becomes a student. It starts when your child is born. That is when the learning begins! It starts with the understanding of language. Exposure to conversation is one super easy way to help your child learn basic language skills. Through listening, children learn that dialogue, or conversation, is a way to communicate and to ask for what we need. Conversation is free and is a great way to get your child learning language. Talk, talk, talk. Children are great company! When you are a parent of a young child, it is hard to view it that way because we are so busy and in the trenches of it all, but it is the truth.

When I was 14, my baby brother was born. Because of my age I was able to help my mother, witness first-hand what childcare involved, and learn from it. I learned a lot about how to take care of a baby (knowledge I would remember and be grateful for years later when I became a mom myself).

I remember my mother speaking endlessly to my baby brother, telling him stories, narrating her actions for him when he was just an infant. She explained to me that he would learn language and how to speak through exposure to words, and that the more we spoke in front of him and immersed him in language, the more language he would learn. This was very interesting to me. Coincidence or not, he was a very smart child with good language skills. My brother spoke very early. By the age of three, he was having fluid conversations with adults and had much background information about various subjects. I became a believer in what my mother had explained to me, that simply engaging your baby in conversation helps them acquire language.

You may be thinking that is just common sense that a child would learn language by being immersed in it. Yes, it is common sense. It seems so easy that it should go without saying, right? Wrong. I have heard parents say they do not talk to their baby because their baby cannot talk yet. My argument is, then how will the baby learn to talk? From whom will the baby learn language? Children learn language by having it modeled for them. I cannot stress it enough! Talk to your baby or toddler! Point out objects, call them by name. Narrate your actions. When you go for a walk, point out what you are seeing along the way. “Do you see the tree? What color are the leaves? The leaves are green.” If you are reading this then I will assume you have a child who is headed to kindergarten at some point soon. If your child is past the baby stage, do not worry. Start conversing with your child now. Each day is a new day to improve as a parent and learn. Parenting is a process. Through it we learn about ourselves and grow. As humans, we are a work in progress. As parents, we want what is best for our children and each day is an opportunity to get better. I firmly believe that.

Take advantage of every teaching moment. It will pay dividends in your child’s development of language and words. I say turn off the electronics and the television and enjoy educational time at home. Devices will not teach your child to pay attention. In fact, I believe that using the devices at too early of an age has disadvantages and takes time away from authentic learning time. Electronics seem to overstimulate very small pre-school age children, from what I have seen. Many children have difficulty sitting and focusing for a stretch of time, but in front of a computer, laptop, or television the same kids can sit still for long lengths. Children are seemingly trained to do this by overuse of electronics. Electronics cannot take the place of real communication, and for that reason I would suggest placing age appropriate time limits on any screen time.

Go for walks. Go to the playground. Go to the public library and take advantage of their free programs, toy room, blocks, story time, crafts, and whatever other programs they offer. When my daughters were babies, we spent a lot of time at the library at the Mommy and me programs. The other great benefit of going to your local library for programs is that the programs at the library for that age group will have other parents from your area with children the same age. My daughter met other children there who were kids she would be going to kindergarten with. As a matter of fact, the girl who was her best friend in pre-k was a child she met at the library in a Mommy and me class. I became friendly with the mom, and we had a lot in common. She had two daughters the same age as my daughters, and we sometimes would meet at the playground or museum. When my older daughter went to school, she already had a friend.

Explain to your little one how and why you do things such as water plants, make lunch, wash, and fold clothes. Your child is a little person. Little ones are good company! Enjoy your time with them while they are little. Talk about the weather. Discuss the sounds you hear as you walk outside: birds, cars, insects- whatever you may see and hear, weave it into the conversation. Read road signs. Sing silly songs in the car. Speak to and with your child. Do it often.

Even in the infant stage, your job as your child’s first teacher has begun. Do not underestimate the importance of that job or the long-term cause and effect nature of your actions as a parent in the early years. Begin to narrate your actions and it will teach vocabulary.

Many of us are very busy and/or we are working parents. We work all day and we may have child care. When we get home there is dinner to make and laundry to do. There are bills to pay, calls to make, and the list goes on. I understand all of this and I live it too.

Despite all the noise in your life, prioritize your children. Carve out whatever time you can for your children. I think spending time with your children is an activity that pays dividends for a lifetime. The time you spend with your children is a true investment in their future and in your own. Children grow very fast. Before long, they are not children anymore at all! Your kids will grow up better for having spent quality time with family. The infant stage is a time for talking to your baby. Keep the atmosphere calm! Baby is also learning about emotions. Your baby will absorb the environment around them.

We cannot just say, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Parenting is modeling. You are modeling the behavior that your child will learn, for better or for worse. Please realize the power in that. Be responsible with it. Children feel “all the feels.”

Along these lines, I like to believe that my classroom atmosphere is part of the curriculum. I try to create an atmosphere of positivity that will radiate. I remind myself that I am the one setting the tone and atmosphere in the classroom, not the other way around. I take that responsibility seriously and like to have a classroom atmosphere that is organized, calm, kind, and conducive to learning and socializing all at the same time.

I believe we can also relate that to the role of a parent at home in a child’s life. Your home atmosphere is part of your curriculum. What are your own words, actions, and emotions teaching your child? How do the people in your home communicate with one another and what is that teaching your child? How do you respond to different situations? What lessons is that teaching your child? Your child is learning all of that and absorbing it. Your child is learning that the way you communicate is the correct way for your child to communicate. What kind of language and tone are you using? Is it kind? Is it polite? Is it respectful? Are you modeling the way you want your child to also communicate? Are you modeling the way you want your child to handle their own situations?

Apples come from apples. I remember being on the playground with my own children a long time ago. We had a park nearby and would walk there after dinner each night. There was a family who was sometimes there at the same time as us. I sometimes would hear a little tiny voice say a curse word on the playground. I would look around and it was this angelic little toddler using these words.

Looking around, it seemed other children were unphased by the word, which I gathered meant either they had never heard the word before, or had heard it so frequently that they paid no attention to it. In any case, no one knew yet that it was a word not to use, or so it seemed. It was apparent this was language the child learned from hearing it used. While she would not be allowed to use the word in school, she did not know that yet because to her, it was perfectly normal. I was wondering what would happen the...