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Smart Room, Smart Child
The quest for order in a child's room
must never replace the need to cultivate intellect.
Within
the current trend for home improvement and decorating, there is an
emphasis on the plain, the simple, and the unencumbered. However, the line
between simplicity and visual sterility is narrow. The quest for order in
a child's room must never replace the need to cultivate intellect.
Children respond to color and contrast:
Children thrive in an environment rich with visual interest. Mobiles,
murals, bulletin boards, clear shoe boxes filled with collections,
book displays at eye level, etc., all strengthen the neural
pathways that are so rapidly forming in the child's brain. A child's room
is the perfect place to encourage literacy and learning.
Before you begin: Sit on the floor of your
child's room. View the space from his height and perspective. Then plan,
move, or rearrange so that points of interest are within his area of view.
In the beginning: It is never too soon to
begin decorating for discovery. Consider bright colors along with pastels,
creating contrast and encouraging depth perception. Although you will want
to keep the crib away from a drafty window or mini-blind cord, be sure the
child can see out both sides of the crib. Consider
placing it in the center of the room.
As the child matures, decorate with his interests in mind. Although you
may want to saturate your son's room with sports memorabilia, consider his
needs. Is he interested in Astronomy? Math? Geography? Every child's room
should have learning as the focus.
It's all about awareness: Below are a few
suggestions to heighten the awareness of your emergent reader. You and
your child may want to make these decorating changes together. Having your
child enjoy a room filled with adult-and-child
creations will also strengthen his memory of the creative process. Please
keep in mind that some suggestions may not be appropriate for the very
young child.
The ABC's of a young child's room: A must for
every pre-schooler's room is the alphabet - both upper and lower case
letters - in block printing. These letters are the
tools of language and are as important to the child as a hammer is
to a carpenter. An inexpensive molding placed 2-3 feet from the floor
makes a wonderful shelf for alphabet flash cards. Whatever you use, be
sure each letter can be held, moved, displayed,
carried, and enjoyed.
It's always about language and literacy:
Additional creations include ...
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Black & white
comic strips, framed with Plexiglas, provide both art and text for
viewing.
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A child-sized
table top covered with newspaper and clear contact paper or plexiglass.
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Add a mailbox to
one wall and fill it with selected junk mail. Junk mail is a rich resource
for language use: children love to role play paying bills, ordering
articles of clothing, tools, kitchen utensils, etc. They can also use the
address labels as stamps, forms as receipts when playing store, check
lists as diagnostic sheets when role playing a visit to the doctor...
Include frequent notes in the mail with your child's name printed clearly
in block letters.
Decorating for discovery: Clear plastic shoe
boxes go on sale several times a year. Stock up for your child's
collections. Be sure to make labels for each box - in block letters.
(Timmy's rocks, Timmy's bird feathers, ...) Literacy. It's always about
language and literacy. Include a magnifying glass, a notebook, and pencil
for sketches and journal writing, even if your child can only write the
first letter of his name.
Secret spaces: Just as every child needs a
mailbox, every child needs a secret space. Something as rudimentary as a
sheet over a table or chair will do. However, you may want to arrange the
furniture so that a little hiding place is created. Put a soft blanket,
quilt, or pillows on the floor. Add a flashlight, some books, and a sign
in the space that has your child's name printed on it.
Look, Mom, I'm in Kansas: A map of the United
States or your country of residence, tacked low
on a wall, is a great tool of print awareness. Attach pictures of distant
relatives in corresponding states or provinces.
Draw roads or flight paths between locations. Put a series of wall clocks
side by side on the wall. Label them according to the distant relative or
friend. For the older child, label the time for different countries. As
the child lays in bed, he will think of his counterpart in Japan who is
eating breakfast or the cousin in California who is still outside
playing. A global awareness develops, expanding the
child's worldview.
A word wall: As we discussed in
The Emergent Reader, logo recognition is
one of the first literacy skills to emerge. Proudly display the cutout
logos of the products your child can identify.
Recognizing symbols is a precursor to letter recognition.
The last word: Every picture a child brings
home should be treated with respect. Teachers often see works of art on
the floor of a family vehicle. A wall in the child's room should always
showcase what he has produced. Because what he has produced is an
extension of himself. Screw a series of wooden frames filled with
Plexiglas along one wall. Be sure that the upper portion extends out a
little. In that way, the child can slip his new work of art in the frame.
What he has produced is an extension of himself.
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A study done 15 years ago by Juel still echoes the
same ominous warning we see tested out today: The probability that a child
who is a poor reader at the end of Grade 1 will remain a poor reader at
the end of grade 4 is 88%. In short, remediation is not the answer.
Successful readers begin as infants, surrounded by language-rich
environments.
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