Idaho Early Literacy Project
The Idaho Early Literacy Project was started by Lee Pesky Learning Center in 2005 with the goal of preparing Idaho’s children for success. Since then we have trained over 1,000 early childhood educators. Thank you to Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson for supporting our efforts.
Promoting Early Literacy through the Professional Development of Head Start Teachers
IDAHO EARLY LITERACY PROJECT
Brief
Executive summary >
In order to learn to read well, children must develop strong pre-literacy skills. Pre-literacy skills include alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, print knowledge, vocabulary, and others. Sadly, not all preschool children learn or are taught these skills. Professional development to train and support early childcare educators in providing early literacy instruction to children has been shown to be highly effective in getting young children ready to read.
Building Blocks for Literacy®, is a low-resource, high impact training model focusing on language and literacy for young children. The Building Blocks (BB) coursework targets three main areas of early literacy development, providing specific strategies that early childcare educators can implement immediately. This professional development has been demonstrated to be highly effective in reducing the number of children who leave preschool/childcare settings without developing requisite pre-literacy skills. Trained Lee Pesky Learning Center mentors also visit the childcare centers to support teachers as they incorporate key concepts and activities into their daily routine. Our research shows that children whose teachers participated in the Building Blocks program experienced significant gains in their reading readiness – in fact, nearly all of the children who were served by teachers who received Building Blocks training followed by mentoring provided by Lee Pesky Learning Center staff scored in the average, strong or very strong categories of reading readiness. Read the complete executive summary for more details.
The Building Blocks course is available online at no cost (www.buildingblocksforliteracy.org). Teachers who are interested in receiving mentoring support should contact Cristianne Lane for more information.
Next steps for research include a current project examining a “Tier 2” Building Blocks program designed to help teachers support the needs of children who struggle to acquire pre-literacy skills.
For more information:
Cristianne Lane
Professional Development Director
208-333-0008, ext. 115