FED: Pre schools urged to do more to improve literacy

AAP General News (Australia)
02-01-1999
FED: Pre schools urged to do more to improve literacy

By Sherrill Nixon

ADELAIDE, Feb 1 AAP - Pre-schools could do more to improve young children's literacy levels
and identify possible learning problems later in life, a nationwide study has found.

The study of 100 children in South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia found children
as young as three and four could develop basic literacy skills at pre-school which set them up
for reading and writing education at school.

The study's authors called for national literacy guidelines for children aged between three
and eight years to be established and said the transition from pre-school to school should be
made smoother.

Junior primary school class sizes should also be reduced to help children learn how to "do
school".

Teachers should be given greater opportunities to communicate with families and pre-school
teachers so they could better understand the children's backgrounds.

The recommendations followed a study into 100 children in five different communities during
the year prior to school and the first year of school.

Study director Sue Hill, from the University of South Australia, said children needed to
learn a lot of "literacies" before they started school.

"It really helps if children can hear sounds, if they can read their name, if they have got
an interest in books and if they've got some understanding that reading and writing has got
some function and purpose," Associate Professor Hill told AAP.

"It might be reading the TV guide or figuring out which chip packet you want for lunch ...
the pre-school year and the first year in school is really where the foundations are set."

She said artificial boundaries between pre-school and school should be broken down so that
children felt more prepared for junior primary.

"At the moment, pre-school is where you play and school is where you work," she said.

"We want more flexibility so that the children who are already reading (in pre-school) can
be encouraged and the children who are playing with computers can also be encouraged to get in
reading and writing."

AAP sn/cfm

KEYWORD: LITERACY REPORT

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