Beyond the Pencil: Expanding the Occupational Therapists’ Role in Helping Young Children to Develop Writing Skills

Occupational therapists (OTs) play an important role in early childhood classrooms as vital members of the educational team, particularly for young children’s writing development. Children’s emergent writing is a foundational literacy skill, which begins to develop well before they enter elementary school. However, early childhood classrooms are lacking in supports for early writing development. OTs are experts in guiding the development of early writing skills in young children and, therefore, should be considered as critical members of the early literacy curriculum team. This paper identifies the critical role emergent writing plays in early childhood literacy development and how to effectively assess young children’s writing ability. Practical guidance is provided to identify specific ways that OTs can merge their occupation-centered approach with their expertise in writing to serve as a key resource for classroom teachers and enhance the writing development of all children. Specific strategies are included for encouraging OTs to expand their approaches to writing beyond handwriting

Longitudinal Relations Between Parental Writing Support and Preschoolers' Language and Literacy Skills

Parental writing support was examined over time and in relation to children's language and literacy skills. Seventy‐seven parents and their preschoolers were videotaped writing an invitation together twice during one year. Parental writing support was coded at the level of the letter to document parents' graphophonemic support (letter–sound correspondence), print support (letter formation), and demand for precision (expectation for correcting writing errors). Parents primarily relied on only a couple print (i.e., parent writing the letter alone) and graphophonemic (i.e., saying the word as a whole, dictating letters as children write) strategies. Graphophonemic and print support in preschool predicted children's decoding skills, and graphophonemic support also predicted children's future phonological awareness. Neither type of support predicted children's vocabulary scores. Demand for precision occurred infrequently and was unrelated to children's outcomes. Findings demonstrate the importance of parental writing support for augmenting children's literacy skills. 本研究以一段长时间考查家长书写支援与儿童的语言和读写技能之关系。七十七名家长与其学前儿童在一年期间两次共同书写一份邀请书;所有书写过程均被录像。家长书写支援的编码,分三个层面进行:在字母层面上家长给予的字形音素支援(字母与发音的相关性),在书写层面上的支援 (字母的构成)和在精确层面上的要求(纠正书写错误的期待)。家长主要依靠几个支援策略:字母书写策略(家长只写出字母)和字形音素策略(即读出整个单字,然后口授字母,让儿童书写其单字)。家长给予学前儿童的字形音素和书写支援能预测儿童的解码技能;字形音素支援也能预测儿童未来的语音意识。这两种支援却不能预测儿童的词汇成绩。精确度的要求很少出现,与儿童的学习成果并无关联。研究结果说明家长书写支援对增强儿童读写能力的重要性。 Se examinó el apoyo de los padres a la escritura a través del tiempo y en relación a las habilidades de lenguaje y alfabetización de los niños. Setenta y siete padres y sus hijos preescolares fueron captados en video escribiendo una invitación juntos en dos ocasiones durante el año. El apoyo de los padres fue codificado al nivel de la letra para documentar el apoyo grafofonémico de los padres (la correspondencia entre la letra y su sonido), el apoyo letral (la formación de la letra), y la exigencia por la precisión (las expectativas en cuanto a la corrección de errores de escritura). Los padres dependían principalmente en sólo un par de estrategias de letra (por ejemplo: el padre escribiendo la letra solamente) y grafofonémicas (por ejemplo, diciendo la palabra completa, dictando letras mientras los niños escribían). El apoyo grafofonémico y letral en los preescolares predecía la habilidad de los niños de descifrar, y el apoyo grafofonémico también predecía la futura conciencia fonológica de los niños. Ninguna de las dos clases de apoyo pudo predecir la nota de los niños en cuanto a vocabulario. La exigencia por la precisión fue infrecuente y no mostró relación con el resultado de los niños. Los resultados demuestran la importancia del apoyo de los padres en la escritura para incrementar las habilidades alfabetizadoras de los niños. لقد تم فحص دعم الكتابة من قبل الوالدين عبر فترة من الزمن وعلاقته بلغة الأولاد ومهاراتهم في معرفة القراءة والكتابة. وقد تم تصوير فيديوهات لسبع وسبعين والداً ووالدةً وأولادهم ما قبل المدرسة وهم يكتبون دعوة معاً مرتين في سنة. وتم ترميز دعم كتابة الوالدين على مستوى الرسالة لتدوين دعم الخط الصوتي (علاقة الحرف بالصوت)، ودعم الخط (تركيب الحروف)، والطلب على الإتقان (توقع تصحيح أخطاء الكتابة). واعتمد الوالدان على إستراتيجيات معدودة للكتابة (أي يكتب الوالد بنفسه) وللخط الصوتي (أي ينطق الكلمة كوحدة واحدة ويملى الحروف والأولاد يكتبونها). وتنبأ دعم الخط الصوتي والكتابة مهارات الأطفال ما قبل المدرسة في تفكيك الخط وكذلك تنبأ دعم الخط الصوتي الوعي الصوتي المستقبلي لدى الأطفال. ومع ذلك، فلم يتنبؤ لا دعم الكتابة ولا الخط الصوتي علامات امتحانات مفردات الأطفال. ونادراً ما حدث الطلب على الإتقان ولم تتم علاقة بينه وبين نتائج الأولاد. وتبين النتائج أهمية دعم الوالدين للكتابة لتعزيز مهارات الأطفال في معرفة القراءة والكتابة. Пoмoщь poдитeлeй пpи cтaнoвлeнии нaчaльныx нaвыкoв пиcьмa y дeтeй в дaльнeйшeм, кaк выяcняeтcя, влияeт нa языкoвыe нaвыки и гpaмoтнocть дeтeй – этим cвязям и пocвящeнo дaннoe иccлeдoвaниe. Ceмьдecят ceмь poдитeлeй и иx дeти дoшкoльнoгo вoзpacтa, вмecтe пиcaвшиe oткpыткy‐пpиглaшeниe, двaжды в тeчeниe гoдa были cняты нa видeo. Пoмoщь poдитeлeй былa зaдoкyмeнтиpoвaнa пo cлeдyющим пapaмeтpaм: гpaфoфoнeмикa (cooтнoшeниe звyк‐бyквa), гpaфo‐мoтopикa (нaпиcaниe бyкв) и тpeбoвaниe тoчнocти (oжидaниe иcпpaвлeния oшибoк). Poдитeли, в ocнoвнoм, пpимeняли двe cтpaтeгии: гpaфичecкyю (пиcaли бyквy caмocтoятeльнo) и гpaфo‐фoнeмaтичecкyю (пpoизнocили cлoвo цeликoм, зaтeм диктoвaли eгo пo бyквaм, a дeти пиcaли). Гpaфoфoнeмикa и пoмoщь в нaпиcaнии бyкв пpeдoпpeдeляют нaвыки дeтeй дoшкoльнoгo вoзpacтa в дeкoдиpoвaнии peчи, a гpaфoфoнeмикa являeтcя eщe и пpeдиктopoм пocлeдyющeгo фoнoлoгичecкoгo paзвития peбeнкa. Hи oдин из пpaктикyeмыx типoв пoмoщи нe вызвaл pacшиpeния cлoвapнoгo зaпaca дeтeй. Tpeбoвaниe иcпpaвить oшибки вcтpeчaлocь нeчacтo и нe пoвлиялo впocлeдcтвии нa yлyчшeниe кaчecтвa дeтcкoгo пиcьмa. Peзyльтaты дeмoнcтpиpyют вaжнocть poдитeльcкoй пoддepжки пpи cтaнoвлeнии нaвыкoв пиcьмa для coвepшeнcтвoвaния нaвыкoв oпepиpoвaния cлoвoм в цeлoм. Nous avons examiné dans la durée et en relation avec les compétences des enfants en matière de langage et de littératie l'aide qu'apportent les parents à l'écriture des enfants. Nous avons enregistré en vidéo à deux reprises au cours d'une année soixante‐dix sept parents et leurs enfants d'âge préscolaire en train d'écrire ensemble une invitation. L'aide apportée par les parents a été codée au niveau de la lettre afin de distinguer l'aide grapho‐phonétique (correspondances lettres‐son), l'aide au graphisme (formation des lettres), et le degré de précision de leurs exigences (attentes relatives à la correction des erreurs d'écriture). Les parents s'intéressent d'abord seulement au graphisme (par exemple, des parents écrivent eux‐mêmes les lettres) et aux stratégies grapho‐phonétiques (par exemple, ils disent le mot entier ou dictent des lettres pendant que l'enfant écrit). L'aide grapho‐phonétique et au graphisme apportée au niveau préscolaire permet de prédire les compétences en décodage des enfants, et l'aide grapho‐phonétique permet aussi de prédire la conscience phonologique ultérieure. Aucun de ces types d'aide n'est prédictif des résultats en vocabulaire. Les exigences en matière de précision ne sont pas fréquentes et ne sont pas liées aux résultats des enfants. Ces résultats mettent en évidence l'importance qu'a l'aide des parents pour l'amélioration des compétences des enfants en littératie.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102675/1/rrq55.pd

Participation in the imagination library book distribution program and its relations to children’s language and literacy outcomes in kindergarten

Relations between participation in Imagination Library, a book distribution program that serves children from birth through age 5, and children’s literacy outcomes in kindergarten were examined. Children (n = 2,428) who participated in the program had greater letter knowledge and higher scores on measures of phonological awareness when compared to children whose families did not participate in Imagination Library (n = 3,348), although effects were small in size. No differences in spelling performance were observed. Parents also reported profiting from and enjoying the program. Imagination Library may a beneficial form of early intervention, particularly given its low cost for implementation

Head Start Teachers' Beliefs and Reported Practices for Letter Knowledge

Children's knowledge of letters at kindergarten entry is a critical marker of literacy development and predicts later reading achievement. Young children vary widely in their letter knowledge and that variation may be due to the ways in which early childhood educators approach letter instruction. The present study interviewed 48 Head Start teachers about their beliefs and practices in supporting letter knowledge for children in their classrooms. Results indicated that early educators believe teaching preschool children about letters is important and they articulated a variety of strategies for promoting this knowledge, primarily through playful learning experiences. Teachers capitalize on children's names, particularly the first letter, when beginning their letter instruction, providing some evidence for why children's name letters tend to be first known. In addition, other features of letters (e.g., position in the alphabet) and research-based practices (e.g., teaching letters and sounds in conjunction) were not prevalent approaches to instruction

Conventional and Piecewise Growth Modeling Techniques: Applications and Implications for Investigating Head Start Children's Early Literacy Learning

This article reviews the mechanics of conventional and piecewise growth models to demonstrate the unique affordances of each technique for examining the nature and predictors of children's early literacy learning during the transition from preschool through first grade. Using the nationally representative Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) data set, 1997 cohort, the authors show how piecewise models revealed discrete contributions of child, family, and classroom experiences to children's literacy skills within particular years, whereas conventional models, which considered the whole 3-year trajectory of change as a single outcome, revealed fewer of these nuanced contributions.education; content area; outcome evaluation (other than economic evaluation); design and evaluation of programs and policies

Development of the Narrative Assessment Protocol-2: A tool for examining young children\u27s narrative skill

© 2020 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Purpose: Narrative skill, a child’s ability to create a temporally sequenced account of an experience or event, is considered an important domain of children’s language development. Narrative skill is strongly predictive of later language and literacy and is emphasized in curricula and educational standards. However, the need to transcribe a child’s narrative and the lack of psychometrically justified scoring methods have precluded broad consideration of narrative skill among practitioners. We describe the development and validation of the Narrative Assessment Protocol-2 (NAP-2), an assessment of narrative skill for children ages 3–6 years, which uses event-based frequency scoring directly from a video recording of a child’s narrative. Method: The NAP-2 underwent a rigorous development process involving creation of four wordless picture books and associated scripts and identification of a broad item pool, including aspects of narrative microstructure and macrostructure. We collected two narratives from each of 470 children using the NAP-2 elicitation materials and scored each with the 60 items in the initial item pool. Results: Cross-validated exploratory factor analyses indicated a single narrative skill factor. Rasch measurement analysis led to selection of 20 items that maintained high reliability while having good fit to the model and no evidence of differential item functioning across books and gender. Conclusions: The NAP-2 offers a psychometrically sound and easy-to-use assessment of narrative skill for children ages 3–6 years. The NAP-2 is available freely online for use by speech-language pathologists, educational practitioners, and researchers. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha. 11800779