Language Development
“From the moment of birth, the infant is surrounded
by oral language. The development of language is one of the child’s first steps
toward becoming literate; it helps make reading and writing possible.” Already
the very first sentence of the Chapter has a huge importance to me and I
believe that every teacher should know about. Language development is a very
important part of a child’s development and on their path to become a full
member of this society. We as teachers have to prepare and educate the children
the best way possible to assure that their language development follows the
right path and they do not have any trouble using their language skills and
later on their literacy skills. But we also have to make sure to still work
with the children even though they might show difficulties or problems in their
language development.
I had the opportunity to experience this language and
literacy development first hand. I was born and raised in Germany and that is
also were I had my first experiences teaching children and learning about their
development.
The education in Germany is different from the
education in the United States. First of all High Schools in Germany, besides
academics, are also focused on educating their students on skills that we can
use later in our professional life. Therefore German schools also include
several opportunities for the students to collect experiences working in a work
setting which the students can choose according to their own interests. This
process is handled like a real application for a job, students will complete
once they graduated High School or College. This practicum was one of the first
times I actually worked in a child care facility setting.
Additionally, the education to become a teacher is also
more practice based than what I am studying now in here in the United States.
The first two years of my education to become a teacher I was able to work full
time in two child care facilities and attend school only once or twice a week .
The first year of this education I had the opportunity to work with children
from 11 months to 3 years old and this taught me a lot about how children
develop in their first years of age. I experienced first hand how the language
development of two children can be completely different even though they are
the same age and also very similar otherwise. I also was able to experience that
teachers, who really care about the children and want to help them achieve
their full potential, even though it might mean more work than normal for them,
can have a huge impact on a child’s life and their character and skill
development.
In my opinion this Chapter is a great help in
understanding children’s language development and literacy. It states specific
examples that language and reading can not only be taught or learned by reading
a book or writing. For me it was a real help to see the list of different
materials that we as teachers can include in each of the centers in our
classroom or include in lessons that we teach to assure that the children’s
language development is supported whatever activity they complete. Some of the
materials listed in this part of our textbook were rather surprising to me and
I really had to think about how they could possibly assist children’s literacy
and language development. But after careful consideration I even came up with
several ideas for lesson plans that I will design and plan for the children in
my future classroom.
I really like that the book gives us as future
teachers specific examples and suggestions on how we can incorporate materials
into our teaching that we might not have thought about before in that kind of
context. Did anyone else think that this list of Center materials for Language
Development was a helpful sources for materials that we can include in our
everyday teaching to support the children’s language development?
Verena,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post with it having two different cultural aspects behind it. Language is the basis on which society strives and without it everything would crumble. Despite different languages across the globe everything works out amongst every culture and even when intertwined. As a teacher, especially when it comes to children of young ages, we are meant to be the mentors of children and help guide them down the right path to success. Success starts on a literate basis with reading, writing, and communication, all of which is important to help children to develop and coincide with the world. Children need to understand what the world has to offer and what they can do for the world as well. As you stated there are things in the book that don’t necessarily make sense initially but have the potential to work just as well as any other of the materials in the book. Every child is different, so just because something works on one child it does not mean that strategy will work on all children equally. As you stated you were given the opportunity to begin teaching in Germany through what sounds like an internship type of deal. That can be so helpful because in America, not many people know exactly what they want to be when they are young, they may have ideas but that doesn’t mean that’s exactly what they want. In Germany it sounds like the academic courses are geared more towards what you want to do as a career from the beginning. Anyways, I do think that with more learning on our part this book provides helpful resources for us as future teachers to support language development in our classrooms.
Yes, the first time I worked in a child care facility was while I was still in High School and for that time we didn't go to school we just went full time to the place we picked to do our internship at.
DeleteBut when I started my education to become a teacher that wasn't like an internship anymore. We had to work full time and had all the responsibilities of a real classroom teacher and we got paid, which was nice.
Verena-
ReplyDeleteVery insightful post and I fully agree with you about the book giving us plenty of examples in the book. The book gave us ways we incorporate language development throughout our classroom as well as materials we can include as well. I think it is amazing that you were able to experience two different kinds of teaching since you are from Germany. I am sure that things are done differently compared to what we do here in the United States. Sometimes I wish our schooling was a little bit more like the schooling you experienced. You were able to work with children right off the bat when entering college. You were able to watch them develop in the classroom setting versus just sitting down and learning about it. I believe as future teachers we need to be working with children as often as possible since we will be working with them the rest of our lives. Yes, sitting down and listening to a professor can be important but I think we can learn so much more about children and their language development by observing them and being with them in the classroom.
Verena, your post was very insightful and interesting. I definitely thought the list of suggested center items was helpful now and I know that it will be in the future. This list gives us, as future teachers, a basis to start from when it comes to building centers. The list of materials helps us to realize what is appropriate to have in our centers and what ideas may not be. So I believe that the list is very helpful. I love that you were also able to bring your experiences in Germany to our attention. I think that it is very important especially since it is obvious that some improvements need to be made in relation to our education system in the United State and we future teachers may be a part of that change. Now I have a question for you. Do you prefer education the way you experienced it in Germany or the way that you have experienced it in the United States?
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I prefer the education system in Germany. In Germany we have three different level of high schools which all end with a different level of degree. For me this is a good way to ensure that students get a high school degree. Also our days in school are not as long as they are here in the United States. In the first years schools end around 1 o’clock and when you get into higher school years you will have school in the afternoons so it will get longer. I also feel that German schools have higher expectations in their students.
DeleteBut one very important thing about the school system is that in Germany schools are tax paid. We do not have to pay such high amounts of money to get a good school education. Sure we pay for books, paper money and other necessities, but it is nothing like paying for a school education in the United States.
I have to say that in the United States I have only been to College so I can only speak about the experiences with High School my little brother is making and what I have heard from others.
Verena, I found your post to be very insightful. The way education is different in Germany than in the United States was interesting to me. It sounds like education in Germany is more hands on, which sounds like it would be helpful. I also like how you talked about how you had first had experience with language and learning development. To answer question, I love how the book gives us examples and suggestions. The list of Center materials is a helpful source for the future and I cannot wait to start planning and using them in my future classroom as well.
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ReplyDeleteVerena,
ReplyDeleteI found it very interesting to learn how schools in Germany work and how children get experiences that can later help them in their profession. I agree with you about how insightful the chapter was on giving us ways to enhance the language education that the children will receive. I really wish that the United States would use offer those experiences to us. It would be very beneficial if we could do more hands-on working with children rather than just reading on how to work with them. This book provides us with many different ideas and ways to work with children with different needs and I think it will be a wonderful tool for us to look back at when we are all teachers. The materials list provided made me stop and think and in the end I loved how different things can help different students, things I would have never thought of. Thank you for your wonderful insight!
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