Comments on: Reading and Early Childhood Education http://www.jamesstriding.com/reading-and-early-childhood-education Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:40:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Y http://www.jamesstriding.com/reading-and-early-childhood-education/comment-page-1#comment-1439 Y Sun, 14 Jun 2009 09:10:37 +0000 http://www.jamesstriding.com/?p=833#comment-1439 Short version: I'm not sure she's thought about what she's saying all that deeply. Most likely she's parroting some kind of contorted pseudo-science. Longer version, in which I half-heartedly attempt to researcher-wank the teacher's train of thought: Reading is part of overall language acquisition (though it is obviously a distinct process from verbal communication). Bebe needs aural input to figure out how the language is supposed to be used. Once he starts to figure that out, he can use that knowledge to bootstrap his reading. For example, if he's reading along and gets to "See Spot ___" where he doesn't know ___, he'll be able to use his knowledge of patterns of speech to make an educated guess. I guess. That said, I think the verbal diarrhea is a horrible idea. I suspect there would be several unintended consequences, including Bebe coming to think that verbal diarrhea is normal behavior. This has all the markings of a pseudo-scientific crackpot recommendation. Regular communication between you and Bebe plus all the adult conversation he overhears in person and on TV should be enough. I'm not familiar with Steiner, but seriously, Bebe isn't going to suffer from a lack of reading material at 18 months. Short version: I’m not sure she’s thought about what she’s saying all that deeply. Most likely she’s parroting some kind of contorted pseudo-science.

Longer version, in which I half-heartedly attempt to researcher-wank the teacher’s train of thought:

Reading is part of overall language acquisition (though it is obviously a distinct process from verbal communication). Bebe needs aural input to figure out how the language is supposed to be used. Once he starts to figure that out, he can use that knowledge to bootstrap his reading. For example, if he’s reading along and gets to “See Spot ___” where he doesn’t know ___, he’ll be able to use his knowledge of patterns of speech to make an educated guess.

I guess.

That said, I think the verbal diarrhea is a horrible idea. I suspect there would be several unintended consequences, including Bebe coming to think that verbal diarrhea is normal behavior. This has all the markings of a pseudo-scientific crackpot recommendation. Regular communication between you and Bebe plus all the adult conversation he overhears in person and on TV should be enough.

I’m not familiar with Steiner, but seriously, Bebe isn’t going to suffer from a lack of reading material at 18 months.

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