Running head: PRESCHOOL 1

Section 4 Draft: Preschool

Angela L. Solomon
Walden University

Dr. Maryanne Longo

EDSD 7081 The Language/Literacy Continuum from Birth through Age 8
March 31, 2017
PRESCHOOL 2

Section 4 Draft: Preschool

Jason is soon to begin preschool. He is excited that he will now be able to ride the school

bus and attend school just as his siblings. Before now, Jason has never been away from home or

his great aunt. Since birth, he has always had his parents, siblings, and great-aunt to care for him

and help him to feel secure and confident. His great-aunt Naomi was his primary caretaker while

his parents worked and siblings attended school. Entering preschool will allow Jason to show his

independence. No one has ever allowed him to truly make mistakes or fail. He has always had

someone to protect him and save him from every little thing because he is the youngest in the

family. At school, will allow Jason to encounter adversity and learn resilience. Jason will begin

to experience challenges that he has to work through on his own or with the assistance of peers

and teachers. Jason has to learn how to handle the stresses and issues of life or else he may have

a stress overload. Long term stress can lead to toxic stress syndrome. It will be important that

Jason has responsive teachers and adults within the classroom. According to the media segment,

InBrief: The Impact of Early Adversity on Childrens Development (Center on the Developing

Child, n.d.,a), responsive adults that allow children to be excited about learning while supporting

brain development is key to children having positive experiences. Children first entering school

need to feel excited about learning. When a child is at school and does not understand a task or

hurts themselves on the playground, they look to the closest adult for comfort. Depending upon

the outcome of that situation, a child will either decide to enjoy school and learning or will not

like the idea of attending school. In his family, everyone helps to ease his fears, stresses, and

pains almost immediately. At school, Jason will need encouragement, to feel a sense of security,

and an adult that he feels cares and is willing to bond with him to feel as though school is a safe

haven.
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Jasons hard work and preparation for school at home did not go unnoticed by his

teachers. They observed his ability to write his name, recognize and recite the alphabet and

numbers 1-100, and read some kindergarten sight words. Jason was able to learn from his contact

with the books his family read to him, television, various forms of technology, and taking part in

conversations with those in his household. Jason is able to take part in a conversation and keep

the conversation going and he can tell short stories utilizing several verbs. Those actions show

that Jason was right on track for his age group according to the American Speech Language

Hearing Association.
If Jason were in my preschool classroom, I would encourage him to utilize the primary

journal to create short stories and include illustrations. He tells such lively stories based upon

television and stories that he has read. I would then challenge him to read his stories aloud and

share them with others. Jason is a very social child. He shares with his classmates events that

take place on the weekend or afterschool. Jason is also very physically active. On the

playground, Jason swings on the monkey bars, climbs the ladders and descends the slide, and

plays ball with his classmates. He is very friendly and interacts with almost everyone. He has no

issues socializing and interacting with his teachers or peers.

Jasons teacher quickly bonded with him and recognized that he was a bright child that

needed challenging and rigorous tasks to avoid boredom and behavior issues. He was ahead of

his classmates. They were learning to write their names and he had already mastered his first and

last name. They were focusing on numbers 1-20 and Jason had already mastered through 100.

Jason could point out and name shapes, colors, letters, and small words. She knew that she had to

go into her teacher arsenal and find additional tasks that would provide Jason a challenge. Jason

had his own special folder of independent assignments that he could work on while his

classmates completed their tasks. However, she felt bad because she was spending more time
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working with the other students. She knew she had to do something more to fuel his love for

school and learning. She spoke with her administrator about allowing Jason to take part in a

lateral class change. Jason was too advanced for his current class, so they allowed for him to take

part in lessons in kindergarten. It was there that he would begin to work with math fact fluency

and leveled readers. In the kindergarten classroom he was challenged and he was with children

that were on his academic level. Jasons classroom experiences could have been the complete

opposite if his teacher had not taken steps to ensure he be provided with a challenging

environment. Jason could have become a behavior issue because his boredom could have led him

to becoming a classroom disruption. He could have been mistaken for a child with Attention

Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and been medicated unnecessarily. He could have been deemed a

problem child. His teacher recognized his skill level and was able to work out an arrangement for

his benefit. While in this kindergarten classroom, Jason took part in read aloud lessons that

allowed the children to interact with the text and the teacher. According to Wiseman (2012), read

alouds that allows for interaction can impact and affect the development of comprehension

strategies in children. As Jason reads, he is learning to understand point of view, elements of the

story, and utilizing strategies to help him to better understand the story and retain details. He is

enjoying reading and interacting with the text. This is an important job for teachers, they need to

find a way to introduce children to the excitement of reading. Jason would describe his preschool

year of school as cool and amazing. His teacher had ensured his preschool year was meaningful.
Education does not end at 2:30 at the conclusion of school for Jason. Jasons family

continues to read and practice writing with him at home. In preschool, students are given

handwriting practice sheets to work on the proper formation of letters and numbers, name

practicing worksheets, and color and shape recognition sheets. Each afternoon, his siblings

worked with him to complete his assignments. Upon their arrival, his parents would review his
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homework with him and read aloud his library book. They took advantage of Scholastic book

ordering, and order Jason books several times a school year. They also went to Walmart and

purchased sight word cards to help him to prepare for kindergarten. The continued exposure to

on-level and above-level vocabulary helped to strengthen Jasons vocabulary bank. Now, Jason

has positive learning environments and experiences both at home and at school. Not only is

Jason exposed to reading, his parents have made it a point to purchase addition/subtraction flash

cards to build his math skills at home. His teacher has begun to send home math fact worksheets

and encouraged his parents to use manipulatives to help him to solve the problems. They use

dried beans to help him with addition and subtraction. With the teacher observing the level of

involvement Jasons parents had in his life and academics, she wanted to test out the validity of a

study she had read. According to Godwin, Rupley, and Capraro (2016) there had been a study on

incorporating mathematics into reading. She shared how in the study involved families that

agreed to join mathematics and reading in all activities that the parents were a part of. The

outcome showed that students learned to appreciate math in the form of a story. Books can

provide a rich framework for understanding mathematical concepts. Students will also acquire

more vocabulary. Jasons parents begin purchasing books with mathematical concepts such as

Measuring Penny which introduces measurement in standard and nonstandard units. Another

book they purchased is Only One which introduces children to units such as 10 cents is a dime or

12 eggs is a dozen. Now, Jason would be prepared and understand when someone references

coins or a dozen eggs or cookies. These were new mathematical concepts and vocabulary words

that he did not previously have. When grocery shopping or cooking, his parents and siblings find

creative ways to incorporate the new vocabulary to help strengthen Jasons understanding of the
PRESCHOOL 6

word meanings. The relationship here between home and school is providing Jason with a very

rich education.
If his parents and teachers continue with the level of instruction and encouragement that

they began, Jason will be overly prepared for kindergarten. He will have a very successful school

year. His parents have been highly involved and supportive of his academic growth. Teachers at

his elementary school recognize his academic strengths and want to continue to enhance his

skills and abilities by providing challenging environments. It had been mentioned that it is highly

possible that Jason could be gifted. His parents should consider local specialty programs if the

regular classroom environment cannot meet his needs. No one wants him bored or acting out

because his needs have not been met.

PRESCHOOL 7

Reference
Center on the Developing Child. (n.d.-a). InBrief: The impact of early adversity on childrens
development [Video file]. Retrieved March 31, 2017, from

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-the-impact-of-early-adversity-on-

childrens-development-video/
Godwin, A. J., Rupley, W. H., Capraro, R. M., & Capraro, M. M. (2016). Reading and
Mathematics Bound Together: Creating a Home Environment for Preschool Learning.

Journal Of Education And Learning, 5(1), 44-59.

Wiseman, A. M. (2012). Resistance, Engagement, and Understanding: A Profile of a Struggling
Emergent Reader Responding to Read-Alouds in a Kindergarten Classroom. Reading &

Writing Quarterly, 28(3), 255-278.