Literacy Perspectives: Past

Jean-Jacques Rousseau recommended that a child’s early education be natural and children should only be asked to learn things for which they are developmentally ready.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Answer explanation

Yes, it is TRUE!

Jean-Jacques Rousseau recommended that a child’s early education be natural and children should only be asked to learn things for which they are developmentally ready.

Pestalozzi felt that children may be able to teach themselves to read, but he believed that it was necessary for teachers and parents to ______________________________.

• use drills and repetition to help children read

• make learning fun all the time

• create the conditions in which the reading process grows

Answer explanation

Pestalozzi felt that children may be able to teach themselves to read, but he believed that it was necessary for teachers and parents to create the conditions in which the reading process grows.

How did Froebel further emphasize the importance of play in learning? (Select more than one.)

• He specified the teacher as a designer of playful activities and experiences that facilitate learning.

• He designed a systematic curriculum for young children that included objects and materials.

• He specified that it was necessary for teachers and parents to create the conditions in which the reading process grows.

Answer explanation

Froebel specified the teacher as a designer of playful activities and experiences that facilitate learning, and designed a systematic curriculum for young children that included objects and materials.

How did Dewey's philosophy of early childhood education lead to the concept of a child-centered curriculum? (Select more than one.)

• Dewey also believed that learning is maximized through integrating content areas.

• Dewey believed that children should learn through play and in real-life settings.

• Dewey believed in explicit teaching of concepts.

• Dewey believed that curriculum should be built around the interests of children.

Answer explanation

Dewey believed that children should learn through play and in real-life settings and believed that curriculum should be built around the interests of children.

Behaviourism suggests that we learn through imitation and association, and through conditioning, or a series of steps that are repeated so that the response becomes automatic.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Answer explanation

Yes, it's TRUE!

Behaviourism suggests that we learn through imitation and association, and through conditioning, or a series of steps that are repeated so that the response becomes automatic.

In the Montessori method, _________________________. (Select more than one.)

• children need early, orderly, systematic training in order to master skills

• the environment is supplied with materials for learning specific concepts to meet specific objectives

• the use of the materials is modelled by the teacher, which the child imitates providing the source for learning

• children will be assisted by teacher at all times to use the manipulatives.

Answer explanation

In the Montessori method, children need early, orderly, systematic training in order to master skills, where the environment is supplied with materials for learning specific concepts to meet specific objectives, and the use of the materials is modelled by the teacher, which the child imitates providing the source for learning.

According to Vygotsky, parents and teachers need to talk with children and provide the _______________ they need in order to help them understand new ideas and solve problems.

Answer explanation

According to Vygotsky, parents and teachers need to talk with children and provide the language they need in order to help them understand new ideas and solve problems.

Select the ones that are TRUE regarding Gessell's maturation theory.

• Maturation as the most important factor in learning to read.

• Preschool and kindergarten teachers were told to avoid reading instruction because such young children were not ready to read.

• Children with a mental age of 6 years, 6 months made better progress on a test of reading achievement than younger children.

• Reading readiness is part of the maturation theory.

Answer explanation

In Gessell's maturation theory, it states that maturation as the most important factor in learning to read, where preschool and kindergarten teachers were told to avoid reading instruction because such young children were not ready to read, and claimed that children with a mental age of 6 years, 6 months made better progress on a test of reading achievement than younger children.