Blog 1.1 and 4.2

1.1 Clearly describe how the concepts are connected to and supported by social relationships and contexts 4.2 Describes how parents, peers, and communities may see feel and shape young childrens early literacy and numeracy experiences.

Readings 1. ‘Together’ books and DVD resources produced by the Department of Education and Child Development (DEDC), Early learning and Quality Reform - Learning Together program.
Refer www.earlyyears.sa.edu.au/pages/Programs/ 2. ‘Investigating children’s early learning in family contexts’- commissioned for the Learning Together Research program Feb 2007 by DECD.
The What
The resources; Talking, Playing, Singing, Reading, Looking, Laughing, Learning and Belonging Together are aimed at families and people who play a role in children’s early development – parents, carers, relations, neighbours and family friends, even a family pet.
The ‘Together’ and ‘Companions Together ‘ resources has been developed through a process of ‘co-construction’ with families and acknowledge the critical role that families and other significant people can play and how what they do every day affects how young children develop and learn. They also provide overlapping messages about the value of watching and listening, playing together, sharing favourite times, sharing routines, helping each other, and children’s need for their own time and space.
As the review of related literature ‘Investigating children’s early learning in family contexts’, commissioned for the Learning Together Research program Feb 2007 by DECD points out; ‘Children's first literacy (and numeracy) experiences are primarily in the home, the community and early childhood education services. There is now general consensus that literacy begins practically from birth, with much learning taking place in the home and that it is developmental in nature (Sulzby, 1985, 1994b; Sulzby & Teale, 1991). Literacy during this period is as much about relationships as knowledge and understandings.
Early literacy interactions combine social interaction and growth in empathy with development in thinking and learning about the world. The development of literacy competence or ‘emergent literacy’ begins with children and their parents, carers and families talking together, singing, reading, playing and observing the world around them’ ( p7)
So what?
The Learning Together approach to working with families recognises that successful engagement with families and children occurs when educators:
• Recognise and respect that families want the best for their children
• Recognise that all families are different and are respectful of the differences
• Recognise that all families have strengths
• Develop relationships with families that are characterised by building on the strengths of each other’s knowledge
• Use a strengths approach including power with rather than power over
• Engage in co-construction processes through developing partnerships with families
• Actively support families to recognise and grow aspirations for themselves and their children
• Understand that powerful learning happens in the everyday
• Actively engage in reflective practices together and with families to support quality service provision.

Cathy Stanbury