Ready, Set, Read!

Learn how a child becomes literate from the moment of birth. This course allows you to explore the development of reading and writing from infancy to early school years as you discover what problems to look for and how to assist struggling young readers.

Details
Syllabus
Requirements
Instructor
Reviews

Enrollment Options

$125.00

Self-Guided

3 Months Access

No Instructor. Course begins when you enroll.

Instructor-Moderated

6 Weeks Access

Study online with Instructor moderated discussion boards.

Select Course Start Date:

October 16, 2024

November 13, 2024

December 18, 2024

January 15, 2025

Enroll Now

$125.00

Self-Guided

Enroll Now

Details

Take this opportunity to find out how children really learn to read and write. Explore current research that cuts through the media messages about reading wars and the right way to teach children. Learn by reading stories about children, doing interactive assignments, and exploring the latest in parent and childcare information.

In this course, you will learn how a child becomes literate from the moment of birth. First, you will investigate the many things a child's growing mind must do to make sense of the written word and create writing. From there, you will explore the development of reading and writing from infancy to the early school years. You will know what problems to look for and how to assist a struggling reader. You will see how you can boost literacy growth during daily routines and child's play.

Syllabus

Lesson 1 - Introduction to Literacy

The first lesson introduces the course philosophy and objectives. Then, you will review examples and anecdotes to show you some of the many ways you interact with reading in your daily lives. You will also explore the history of reading instruction, so you better understand the benefits of research.

Lesson 2 - Language Development

Just as a child communicates before using words, young children initiate many literacy-related activities before they actually read and write. This lesson introduces language skills that have the greatest impact on a child becoming a successful reader and writer. You will end this lesson with a new understanding of the complexities of language development.

Lesson 3 - Sounds and Symbols

Everyone gets excited when children learn their ABCs, but what role does this skill play in becoming a reader and writer? What does it really mean to know your ABCs? This lesson uncovers the differences between rote memory, knowledge of sounds and symbols, phonemic awareness, and how all these things come together for the early reader.

Lesson 4 - Attention and Literacy

While attention and literacy may seem like big words for little people, the way a child's brain is attending to print in their world has a huge impact on reading, writing, and learning. In this lesson, you will learn about different types of attention and the importance of having an organized thinking system in order to learn about print.

Lesson 5 - Memory and Literacy

This lesson introduces what's happening when a child works to store information in memory. By the end of this lesson, you will realize how important it is to store information in some sort of order, and also how to get things out of memory again once they're put away. You will then be able to watch a young reader with a new awareness of how this skill impacts her success.

Lesson 6 - Comprehension and Literacy

You will understand what understanding is all about in this lesson. How does a child make sense of what you read to him or what he reads to himself? You will explore the many skills a child needs to understand text. Just because a child can say a word doesn't mean he knows the word when reading it.

Lesson 7 - Birth Through Age Two

While you would never want or expect a child under two to read, much pre-literacy work goes on during the early years before a child is really even talking. In this lesson, you will learn how infants grow to become readers and explore the literacy processes that occur during the first two years of life.

Lesson 8 - Ages Three and Four

This lesson explores the sequence of skills that brings toddlers and preschoolers to the threshold of becoming true readers and writers. You will learn why you should read that favorite story one more time, with enthusiasm. In fact, once you understand how much this repetition is helping your child's literacy, you will want to read it a dozen more times.

Lesson 9 - Kindergarten and Beyond

Research shows that humans learn literacy skills in the same order. This lesson explains that order and why it's okay if your child doesn't meet these milestones by a specific age. This lesson will guide you through the evolution of reading and writing letters, words, sentences, and complex ideas.

Lesson 10 - Becoming a Fluent Reader

How do all of these pieces come together to produce an able reader? By the end of this lesson, you will know what fluency looks like when a young child is successfully reading. Literacy skills continue to develop so a child can be successful with literacy activities throughout school and life.

Lesson 11 - Becoming a Fluent Writer

Now that you know all about the mental processes and learning sequences that lead to becoming a writer, you will learn new activities that demonstrate how the complex skill of writing emerges. You will learn what to watch for and how to assist a child who's becoming a successful scribe.

Lesson 12 - A Word About Disabilities

What's going on when a child isn't reading or writing when you expect him to? By the end of this lesson, you will know how to assist a child who struggles with literacy learning and how to locate resources for assistance. You will also understand the concept of "learning differences," which can help you focus on the strengths of a child who masters reading and writing slower than their peers.

Requirements

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

PC: Windows 8 or later.
Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

Instructor

Kt (Katie) Paxton

Kt (Katie) Paxton is a certified teacher with a Master's Degree in Education focusing on Learning and Technology. She has more than 20 years of classroom experience and has been an online instructor since 2003. She also owned and managed a home daycare for five years and is the author of More Adventures With Kids in San Diego. Furthermore, Kt has trained and placed tutors with at-risk students in over 100 schools in addition to working with the students herself.

Reviews

Kt Paxton was a wonderful teacher! She always had a reply to my discussion board post by the next day, which was impressive. She also was very quick to answer any question I had about the course or if I was unclear on an assignment. I would like to take another class that she teaches.

Thank you for the valuable information presented in the course. I've gained more knowledge and insights on ways to more robustly interact with my grandchildren as we play and read together. This base foundation has grown my confidence as I begin my training and service as a K-3 Reading Corps tutor in this upcoming school year.

I just wanted to thank you for sharing your vast knowledge and experience. My goal was to improve my understanding of the foundations of reading and be able to implement that new knowledge when I re-enter the classroom. ... My experience made me realize the necessity in helping myself in order to better help others. The epiphany is that I also have a better understanding as to why I, as a young reader, struggled like I witnessed my students.

Wonderful course. I am already a teacher, so this course validated some of the things I already knew and updated me on some new information. I felt the lessons proved to be interesting and I liked how the instructor used frequent examples and stories, instead of just feeding us straight information

This course was thorough and up-to-date and addressed many of the issues I, as an English teacher, face with my middle and high school grades' struggling students. Since I began taking the course, I have been noticing some of the struggles that my readers face and I feel that I am better able to boost them over the hurdle they encounter. I have recommended this course to others.

This was my first online course and I really enjoyed it. The instructor was very prompt and helpful in discussions, which helped make a personal connection. The content was very relevant to me personally and I would definitely take an online course again.

Kt was an exceptional teacher. This course was interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed the challenges of the quizzes. The final exam was right on target, it covered everything that I learned in this course. Every thing was done well. I would definitely take another class from Kt.

This was one of the best classes I have taken. I can't believe how much I learned, I was able to use the information right away. Thank you for this course!

I found this to be the best ed2go class that I've taken. It required critical thinking on my part, rather than just parroting what was said in the actual lesson. In addition, the links provided at the end of each lesson were up to date and useful. I appreciated that the teacher did not try to sound like she was speaking to us and expect rhetorical answers. Great class!

The course is great! The instructor was helpful and her tone was encouraging. The content was well-sequenced and provided excellent examples and connections. I would highly recommend this course and enjoyed taking it.

Enjoyable course and helped me strengthen my skills to enhance my job working with preschoolers, promoting emergent literacy. Thank you.

Valuable information presented in a thorough manner, with excellent assignments to build knowledge, and extremely useful supplemental materials. I would recommend this to beginning and seasoned teachers alike. I came away with a more orderly understanding of the development of literacy and many new ideas to implement in my classroom.