Communication, Language and Literacy
Communication, Language and Literacy
Requirements
Breaside prides itself on children’s learning and competence in communicating, speaking and listening, being read to and beginning to read and write and by giving as many opportunities for our children to extend these skills. Our children are provided with opportunities
and encouragement to use their skills in a range of situations and for a range of purposes, and are supported in developing the confidence and disposition to do so.
What Communication, Language and Literacy means for Breaside children
■■ Communicating and being with others helps our children to build social relationships which provide opportunities for friendship, empathy and sharing emotions. The ability to communicate helps children to participate more fully in society.
■■ Breaside children become skilful communicators and are encouraged to be with people who have meaning for them and with whom they have warm and loving relationships, such as their family or carers and, in a Kindergarten, a key person whom they know and trust.
■■ Young children respond differently to different sounds and from an early age are able to distinguish sound patterns. They learn to talk by being talked to.
■■ Our children use their voices to make contact and to let people know what they need and how they feel, establishing their own identities and personalities.
■■ Parents and immediate family members most easily understand their babies’ and children’s communications and can often interpret for others. We at Breaside recognise this, as our parents are their children’s first educators.
■■ At an early age Breaside children learn best through activities and experiences that engage all the senses. For example, music, dance, rhymes and songs play a key role in language development.
■■ As children develop speaking and listening skills they build the foundations for literacy, for making sense of visual and verbal signs and ultimately for reading and writing. Children need lots of opportunities to interact with others as they develop these skills, and to use a wide variety of resources for expressing their understanding, including mark making, drawing, modelling, reading and writing.
Positive Relationships
■■ Breaside children are helped to communicate thoughts, ideas and feelings and build-up relationships with adults and each other.
■■ Our children are given daily opportunities to share and enjoy a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books, rhymes, music, songs, poetry and stories.
■■ Breaside children see adults reading and writing and encourage the children to experiment with writing for themselves through making marks, personal writing symbols and conventional script. They are then encouraged, when ready, to develop and use more formal approaches.