Curriculum: Literacy at the School for Children

For most children, the foundation for literacy is laid long before they arrive at school. The love of language that leads to enduring appreciation derives from early pleasurable experiences when learning to speak. Thus, teachers carefully consider how to continue the child's inherent interest in language as well as the ways to teach speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Language experiences are woven into the fabric of our daily curriculum: into every routine and work choice. In fact, everything we do involves literacy. The acquisition of skills is seen as a means to an end, rather than as an end itself. Thus, our literacy program is designed to produce readers who read for pleasure, information, and knowledge, and writers who write to communicate meaning.

Teachers work toward establishing literate classrooms- stimulating environments in which many possibilities for language experiences exist, and where all the tools of learning language are available to students. Since we believe that communication is the primary goal of literacy, children's experiences with language involve social as well as individual activities. To a great extent, literacy is learned across the curricula, in conjunction with social studies, science, math, and other subjects. The four communication skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) are practiced as children learn in these subject areas. The fact that the reading and writing children do is purposeful, that it will help them to make sense out of what they learn, is in itself a powerful motivation to learning. The richness of the physical, social, and personal environment offers children endless possibilities of language usage as they learn about themselves and the world.