Livingston agency offering
session on child care method
by Linda Theil, Lansing State Journal, October 7, 2003
HOWELL - Why would you want to teach your toddler to read? Doesn't he
already have enough to do just getting from the cookie jar to the toy box?
Childhood development expert Kara Gregory says no.
"The research shows we can make a huge difference in children's reading
ability if we start with them young," said Gregory, 36, who holds a
doctorate in early childhood development from Michigan State University.
To help preschool teachers, day care providers, parents and grandparents
learn about preschool literacy activities, the Livingston Educational
Service Agency will hold a training course that begins Wednesday. The
workshop will feature Gregory's PLaY! literacy training program for
adults.
"There's a huge gap between those who have had literacy experiences before
kindergarten and those who haven't, she said.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm agrees. The ninth annual Governor's Education
Summit in Lansing last week was the first one dedicated to early childhood
education. At the conference, the governor praised a new licensing rule
that requires all child care providers to devote at least 30 minutes a day
to literacy activities.
Gregory, a Pinckney resident, will work with Pinckney Community Schools
preschool teachers this year to help them implement the PLaY! program in
their classrooms.
"PLaY! is Playful Literacy and You," Gregory said. "It was designed for
people who work with children, birth through age 5, to increase their
awareness and understanding of what literacy is all about and how to do it
in a child-centered way using play as the vehicle."
Stacey Lynch, 30, mother to Noah, 3, and Emily, 9 months, agrees that it
is important to read and talk to children from the time of birth.
"I just make the time," Lynch said. "Sometimes you have to stop what
you're doing and read to your kids. Noah has a library set up in our
living room with a bookshelf and a little chair. He just loves it; I don't
think he would love it so much if we didn't read to him."
Livingston Head Start teacher Robin Davis attended PLaY! training in the
spring after taking the federal Heads Up literacy training in January.
"The PLaY! program was a lot more effective for us, a lot more
understandable and hands-on training that we could take right into the
classroom and apply," Davis said. "For parents who are looking for an
understanding of how children are learning and how they can help their
children, PLaY! is a good tool. ... It's hands-on and easy to implement."
The PLaY! curriculum addresses major components of literacy: reading,
writing, speaking, listening and viewing. Gregory developed the program in
2000 as a consultant with the regional literacy center at the Ingham
Intermediate School District. The center piloted Gregory's program in 2001
and began training sessions last year.
Gregory said research shows that the development of oral language is a key
to creating a literate individual. One-on-one, face-to-face conversation
is crucial to brain development.
"Go back to the basics," Gregory said. "Call to your child. Read with your
child. Play with your child. Spend time with them. Sing songs with them
and be silly.
"If you think back about what you remembered and enjoyed as children,
they're the same things that we need now."
