A Guide for Teachers and Caregivers of Children
Birth Through Age 5
by BETTY S. BARDIGE AND MARILYN M. SEGAL
REVIEWS AND ENDORSEMENTS
"This book offers a lasting gift for parents and early childhood educators who wish to make a significant contribution to children's development.
Written by authors steeped in experience and expertise, Building Literacy With Love covers every dimension of the topic of early literacy, with
unusual sensitivity to environmental factors that influence the course of development."
- Carol Brunson Day, president and CEO, Council for Professional Recognition
"Building Literacy With Love is important because it outlines the skills, concepts and processes intrinsic to read and write, and the experiences
that adults can provide for children to help them learn. This is a down-to-earth, practical guide for understanding literacy."
- Barbara Bowman, co-founder of and professor at the Erickson Institute and former president of the National Association for the Education of
Young Children
EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 2:
Building a Social-Emotional Foundation
The Joys of Reading
Kate is a princess
Up in her tower
Reading and reading
Hour after hour
Having adventures
Doing brave deeds
A pile of books is
All that she needs!
- Betty Bardige, unpublished poem
Like the child in the poem, many of us have experienced the joy of being lost in a book and transported to another realm. The books we love touch our hearts, engage our minds, and fuel our imaginations. They provide us with beautiful language and imagery, characters who become our friends, and thrilling plots that compel our interest. For us, literacy isn't just about being able to read - it's also about love for the written and spoken word and the ability to appreciate and learn from the messages they contain.
Those of us who would foster literacy in young children must begin, then, by fostering a love of learning and a love of literacy. To develop this love, we must build the kinds of relationships that affirm children's worth, nurture their curiosity and confidence, and encourage them to share our passions and interests as well as develop their own.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword by Barbara Bowman
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Overview
Chapter 2: Building a Social-Emotional Foundation
Chapter 3: Engaging All Children
Chapter 4: Building the Language Foundation
Chapter 5: Classroom Conversations
Chapter 6: Using Books to Support Language
Chapter 7: The "Outside-In" Domain
Chapter 8: The "inside-Out" Domain
Chapter 9: Creating an Environment That Enhances Emergent Literacy
Chapter 10: Fostering Literacy Through Art, Music, and Pretending
Chapter 11: Assessing Children's Progress
Chapter 12: Partnering With Families
Chapter 13: Celebrating Literacy Together
Appendix A: Books That Build Literacy With Love
With Love
