Maricopa Community Colleges  ECH275   19912-19915 
Official Course Description: MCCCD Approval: 12/11/90
ECH275 19912-19915 LEC 1 Credit(s) 1 Period(s)
Literacy Development and the Young Child
Literacy from birth through the early childhood years. Focus on developmentally appropriate ways to encourage speaking, listening, writing, and reading in the home and classroom. Prerequisites: None.
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MCCCD Official Course Competencies:
 
ECH275   19912-19915 Literacy Development and the Young Child
1. Identify a wide variety of oral language experiences the young child brings from personal environments.
2. Identify a wide variety of written language experiences the young child bring from personal environments.
3. Use literary language with the young child, including books, stories and verse.
4. Identify major approaches used in the field of literacy development and describe the controversies which surround these approaches.
5. Describe how professionals in early childhood development can communicate more effectively with the public and parents about a young child's literacy development.
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MCCCD Official Course Outline:
 
ECH275   19912-19915 Literacy Development and the Young Child
    I. Oral Language - Listening and Speaking (1)
        A. Beginnings of Language in Infancy
          1. "Synchrony" and "motherese"
          2. Vocalizations and communications
          3. Earliest talk
        B. Family Language Environments
          1. Social class and language patterns
          2. Family size and language spoken in the home
          3. Earliest talk
        B. Family Language Environments
          1. Social class and language patterns
          2. Family size and language spoken in the home
          3. Electronic media in the home
          4. Use of profanity
        C. Language in the Early Childhood Classroom
          1. Informal opportunities to communicate with peers and adults
            a. Listening to the child
            b. Arranging for communication to occur
          2. Formal opportunities to communicate with peers and adults
            a. Respecting individual differences in language
            b. Planning for group language experiences
      II. Written Language - Reading and Writing
          A. Print in the Child's Personal Home and Community Environments (2)
            1. Names
            2. Lists
            3. Mail
            4. Books
          B. Print in the Early Childhood Classroom
            1. Informal opportunities to use print
              a. Office Center
              b. Sinage
              c. Make-believe
            2. Formal opportunities to use print
              a. Skill practice in workbooks
              b. Dictations
              c. Journals
        III. Literary Language - Books and Verse (3)
            A. "Music" of the Mother Tongue - Sounds of Language
              1. Verse, rhyme
              2. Humor, nonsense, and sound play
              3. Sound patterns in books
                a. Repetition
                b. Predictable books
            B. The Power of Narrative - Story
              1. Meanings and messages in story
              2. Parts of a story
              3. Tradition of storytelling
            C. Books
              1. How to handle them
              2. Authorship and illustration
                a. Personal
                b. Published
          IV. Literacy Approaces and Controversies (4)
              A. Phonics vs. Look-Say
              B. Readiness Skills and Basal Texts
              C. Writing Alongside Reading
              D. Teaching Babies to Read
              E. Whole Language Approaches
            V. Communicating Effectively about Literacy (5)
                A. Communicating with Parents
                B. Communicating with the Public
                C. Expectations and Anxieties Parents Bring
                D. Working with the Family towards Children's Literacy
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