Becoming literate doesn’t just happen

The foundation for learning in our Day Nursery classrooms comes from The Creative Curriculum^®  which has been developed by a company called Teaching Strategies over the past 30 years.  Parents who are shopping for a preschool are often drawn to Day Nursery because we are NAEYC accredited and because we utilize The Creative Curriculum^®.   According to Teaching Strategies, there are two features that distinguish The Creative Curriculum from other approaches: their organizational structure and their focus on interest areas.  In a classroom where children are beginning to learn how to read you will see Day Nursery teachers promoting literacy learning in the 11 interest areas that you will find in each preschool classroom. For example, in the Cooking area, literacy is explored using pictures and words on recipe cards and through talk about  words and letters on the food containers during a cooking activity.  In the Discovery area, children will find science related books on hand so they can explore more about the insects, plants or seeds that might be on hand.  They will also have paper and markers available for recording their observations.  In the Music and Movement area, children can be found using instruments for the sound effects in a story read by their teacher or working with the teacher to write words to their favorite song on a chart.   Becoming literate just doesn’t happen.  It requires teachers and parents thoughtfully and purposefully interacting with children and offering activities that support emerging literacy.