BC Council for Families

by Tina Albrecht
Communications, BC Council for Families

With the new school year just around the corner, preschool is something that is on the minds of many parents of young children. Here's more food for though: the journal Science has just published a study indicating that the quality of a child's preschool experience can make a difference in how that child's linguistic skills develop. While the study's findings may not come as a surprise, they are an encouraging reminder to those who work with children on a daily basis of the key importance of this work for healthy child development.

The study, Teacher's Language Practices and Academic Outcomes of Preschool Children, found that when preschoolers were encouraged to think and learn independently and teachers engaged them with a rich and varied vocabulary, the children were more likely to show an enhanced vocabulary in kindergarten and better reading skills by fourth grade. This type of interaction prompts children to process the information they are learning in new ways.

"We found that the relative extent to which the teacher engaged children in analytic conversations -- talking about what words meant, why things were happening... instead of just labeling and counting things, was related to the size of the vocabulary the children developed in kindergarten. And that vocabulary is also related to their reading comprehensive and later vocabulary in fourth grade," says study author David Dickinson, a professor of teaching and learning at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College.

Parent-child interaction and the development of a shared delight in language is another key aspect of encouraging healthy development and emerging literacy in young children. For many years, parents all across BC have been participating in the Parent-Child Mother Goose programs with their infants and young children. Children who participate in the program can experience increased language, pre-literacy and cognitive skills. Click here for more information about the Parent-Child Mother Goose Program.