Literacy Skills In a Discovery Environment

Children who are allowed a climate of self-directed learning, such as we provide during discovery time, are likely to exhibit “considerable intrinsic motivation” in learning. Sylvia C. Chard, a leading authority on the Project Approach and Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, has also stated that in a DAP classroom, “the teacher can enable children to select the level of challenge with which they feel confident, the length of time they plan to take, the level of detail or elaboration which might be appropriate for them, and whether they wish to work alone or with another child. Making choices of this nature allows children to take ownership of some of the work and accept responsibility for the amount of effort and quality of the ideas which they bring to the activity and for any product which results.”

Although the child directs his or her learning in this manner during our discovery time, there are concrete skills learned in each of our centers. Many of our centers promote multiple skill development, and many of the skills are present in multiple centers. Just one example is our integration of literacy skills.

Literacy is included in all of our centers. It is present in the labeling that appears everywhere in the room to facilitate word recognition. In the Manipulative Center, the children explore patterns, play games and assemble puzzles with letters and practice the give and take of conversation in their games with rules. In the Computer Center, the alphabet is on the screen and the keyboard. The students practice reading directions, typing in commands, and learn basic computer command words such as “EXIT”. Many of our software programs are selected for their literacy content plus those designed specifically for representing ideas through writing and drawing. In the Writing Center, the students practice writing their names, writing their own stories, dictating stories and watching the teachers write them down, using alphabet stamps and stencils, and putting away materials in the appropriate labeled bins. In our Sensory Center, the students use words to record information on charts or graphs. The children often find the need to label their constructions in the Block Center. Another choice for the children is our Library Center that is always full of a variety of informational and fictional books and a flannel board story to retell. In Housekeeping, we immerse the children in a print-rich environment by labeling items and the locations they belong in. We also allow the children to follow recipes, take written orders when playing a restaurant, make shopping lists, and write notes to one another.

In addition to including literacy in our centers, we include it throughout our day. In addition to our formal group music time, we daily include singing and rhymes with actions in all our transitions. During nearly all our small group activities, the children are asked to at least write their names. Our question of the day requires that the children become familiar with the words “yes” and “no”, in addition to providing yet another opportunity for name writing. We read several stories to the children daily.

By including literacy in all of our centers, and throughout our day, we can encourage and promote the development of literacy skills without resorting to teacher-directed drill lessons. Because the children retain control over their education they do exhibit “considerable, intrinsic motivation” in learning, which meets our goal of providing every child with a life-long love of learning.