early childhood learning

Matthew Lynch published in International Education

How should kids learn English Through Old MacDonald’s or Ali Baba’s farm?

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.**

A guest post from The Conversation by Joan Kang Shin, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Children love to sing songs. Think about the time when you were a child. What was your favorite song? What songs did you learn at home and at school?

Traditional children’s songs introduce children to the world around them. They do this in a fun and developmentally appropriate way. In the US, preschool age kids learn about farm animals like cows, ducks and sheep as well as their sounds, like moo moo, quack quack, and baa baa through the popular, traditional song Old MacDonald Had a Farm.

Without realizing it, children learn language and content simultaneously. Songs build skills that help children distinguish the sounds of a language, and connect sound to script and assist with vocabulary building.

It is no surprise, then, that English language programs for young children frequently use songs to enhance language and literacy instruction.

Even when teaching children English in other countries, teachers typically use traditional songs from the US and the UK. However, English is the world’s lingua franca, a global language shared by many cultures. It is not solely connected to American and British cultures.

So, do kids around the world always have to sing about Old MacDonald to learn about farm animals in English? Or is there another way?

Global perspective on songs

Since 2004, I have been providing professional development to thousands of English teachers in over 100 countries through online courses and in-person workshops. This experience, primarily with teachers of young learners, has given me a global perspective on English language teaching around the world.

It also inspired me to search for a new approach for teaching English through songs.

Based on my own passion for using songs to teach children language and my interest in other cultures, I began collecting children’s songs in different languages through my global network of teachers.

Although distinctive in their language and melodies, the songs I collected from over 50 countries had much in common. The songs were all short, repetitive, catchy and easy to remember. They played with the sounds of the language through rhyme and rhythm and often had corresponding body movements. They also had common topics interesting to kids, like animals, nature, toys and family.

All the songs shared certain qualities that made them attractive to children. This led me to consider the possibility of using these songs as an interesting and compelling source of cultural material for the classroom.

International children’s song approach

The approach I developed is simple. It combines my research in using songs to teach children with my search for appropriate cultural materials for teaching English as a global language.

Teaching kids through songs from the world.
Murat Yilmaz, CC BY

It is called the “international children’s song approach” and uses songs from around the world to teach English to kids. Children can learn a version of the song their peers are learning around the world. Examples can be found in the English language program I coauthored, Welcome to Our World.

Instead of singing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” to learn about farm animals, children can sing a song in English that originally comes from another country or culture.

For example, children in Turkey learn a song about farm animals through a similar song in Turkish, called Ali Babanın Çiftliği or Ali Baba Has a Farm.

See the original song and a translation in English below.

Ali Babanın bir çiftliği var (Ali Baba has a big farm.)

Çiftliğinde inekleri var (On his farm, there are cows.)

Mö, möö diye bağırır (Moo moo, they go.)

Çiftliğinde Ali Babanın (On Ali Baba’s big farm.)

The melody for Ali Baba Has a Farm is completely different from Old MacDonald; but similar to its American counterpart, the Turkish song has a catchy, rhythmic tune that is repeated with other animals and their corresponding sounds.

Using the international children’s song approach, teachers from around the world can use an English adaptation of Ali Baba Has a Farm in their English language curriculum.

Welcome to Our World. This series for three- to five-year-old learners of English includes 24 songs that originated from 18 countries, such as I Have a Ball from Tunisia, Three Bears from Korea, and Tiny Little Boat from Spain, to name a few.

Of course, they continue to learn English through the typical children’s songs from American and British culture, but they also learn through English adaptations of their own as well as other international songs.

English is a global language

English is the most commonly taught foreign language worldwide. Statistics show that there is a “wave of English” building up in this century. This is hardly surprising considering English is the language of science, technology, commerce, diplomacy, tourism and the internet.

An estimated two billion people are learning English — that is, almost a third of the world’s population. In many countries where English is not widely spoken, there are government mandates to teach English as a foreign language in primary schools.

In countries such as South Korea, Turkey and Brazil, many children begin learning English in addition to their native language as early as three years of age.

Whether children are learning English as a second language, or even a third or fourth language, they are being exposed to it at earlier and earlier ages worldwide.

Using international children’s songs from around the world is an effective approach for teaching English as a global language to kids.

Language is a carrier of culture, and English is uniquely positioned to communicate across cultures around the world. Materials to teach it should embrace all cultures.

Why only sing about Old MacDonald and his farm? Why not sing about Ali Baba and his farm too?

The Conversation___________

Joan Kang Shin is Professor of Practice at University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

This article was originally published on The Conversation.
Read the original article.

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Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, EdTech & Innovation, Parental Involvement

Here’s how screen time is changing the way kids tell stories

Allison S Henward, University of Hawaii

Recently, at a child’s birthday party, I overheard a conversation between parents discussing their concern about “screen time.”

Phones, computers, iPads and the good old television are all around us. And this can be a source of anxiety for parents, caregivers and teachers. A recent report from the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests the amount of time young children spend viewing television and movies and playing on handheld devices is increasing.

As an early childhood media researcher, an early childhood teacher educator and a parent, I understand these concerns. But, I believe, it is equally important that we consider how children are learning from the time spent in front of the screen.

My research shows that children are creating complex oral stories through the characters they see on screen.

Educational opportunities in “screen time”

A number of studies show how viewing television and other media can contribute to children’s learning. Children have been known to improve their math and literacy skills from watching “educational” shows such as Sesame Street.

When children watch educational programs and interact with apps that promote learning, they make gains in literacy, numeracy and vocabulary. A recent article in Young Children, a publication of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) (a nonprofit organization that works to promote early learning), shows how children can gain several skills through experience with computers and handheld devices.

These devices can facilitate better language and literacy outcomes, such as letter recognition, listening, comprehension and vocabulary. When children play games that link letter sounds to written letters, it can increase their ability to hear and identify individual sounds – skills children need in order to read.

How are children interpreting television show characters?
woodleywonderworks, CC BY

Researchers show that children learn from both print and digital picture books. Digital storybooks (e-books) that pair spoken word with pictures and print text can enhance vocabulary.

Apps that allow a “read-along” experience, for example, can help children develop a better understanding of concepts about stories and print, especially if they have printed text that children can see. E-books that highlight words as they are read, help young children learn that print is read from left to right in English.

Children learn from superheroes as well

But it is important to realize that it is not just “educational” television and media from which children learn. Children pick up ideas from television (even television not considered “educational”) and use them to enhance literacy.

Children can learn from superheroes, too. Researcher on early childhood learning Anne Haas Dyson found that seven- to nine-year-old children] took the superheroes they watched on cartoons and brought them into their fiction writing and dramatic play.

Her research shows children, like adults, often use media and media characters as tools. With the help of their teacher, children brought their home life and interests into school to make their writing come to life.

Dyson’s research demonstrates that when allowed, children use media – songs, characters from their favorite shows and movies – as a way to enhance their “school learning.”

My own research demonstrates how preschool children take unlikely characters in popular television shows and movies and blend them together to create complex oral stories.

Children bring what they learn from superheroes into fiction writing and dramatic play.
Stephen Train, CC BY-NC

I spent nearly a year in a preschool to observe how three- to five-year-old preschool children talked and thought about television, movies and handheld devices. These preschool children often talked about characters from a wide range of television shows and movies.

For example, one preschooler, I observed, “borrowed” Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana, a tween rockstar, as the protagonist in her tale. After introducing Hannah Montana, she brought Boots (the monkey from Dora the Explorer, a preschool cartoon) into her story. She spun a story in which Hannah Montana and Boots battled and ultimately defeated a villainous monster from a movie.

Preschoolers took ideas from shows such as Sesame Street, Mickey mouse Clubhouse, cartoons featuring Spiderman, Tinkerbell and Spongebob. Some combined these with shows that older siblings and family members watched such as action movies, professional wrestling and even monster movies.

Rather than repeating what they saw on television, they brought ideas from their own community to make new stories.

The stories children saw and the characters they knew from television also allowed them to relate to other children. Superheroes, characters from Frozen and other popular culture characters can give children from diverse backgrounds a common (and exciting) topic in which to create play scenarios.

And this play involves negotiating and talking with other children about characters and plot, which in turn enhances oral language. Oral language is a crucial aspect of literacy for young children.

How should adults monitor screen-time?

Although research shows the way in which children learn from media, there are also legitimate concerns about what children see on these screens.

Media is created from viewpoints and stances that may not always be acceptable to parents and teachers. Media can show people in inaccurate and stereotypical lights.

So what should adults do with all of the media content coming into their children’s lives?

Research with preschoolers has shown that conversations allow a child to examine who is being shown in media and the way they are being shown. And it is important to note that children’s view of these stereotypes often depends on their home lives and environments. These conversations are important for children.

Adults also need to recognize that screen time is one way for children to learn. It is certainly not the only way. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that children should engage with entertainment media for no more than one or two hours per day.

As they note, it is important for kids to spend time on outdoor play, reading, hobbies and using their imaginations in free play. Children need rich experiences in their lives and interactions with other people. Screens cannot make up for this.

Children need a healthy balance. While we should be careful in flinging open the gates of media, we should be equally concerned about chaining them shut.

The Conversation

Allison S Henward, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education, University of Hawaii

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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Matthew Lynch published in Parental Involvement, Teachers

Why stories matter for children’s learning

Peggy Albers, Georgia State University

Ever wondered why boys and girls choose particular toys, particular colors and particular stories? Why is it that girls want to dress in pink and to be princesses, or boys want to be Darth Vader, warriors and space adventurers?

Stories told to children can make a difference.

Scholars have found that stories have a strong influence on children’s understanding of cultural and gender roles. Stories do not just develop children’s literacy; they convey values, beliefs, attitudes and social norms which, in turn, shape children’s perceptions of reality.

I found through my research that children learn how to behave, think, and act through the characters that they meet through stories.

So, how do stories shape children’s perspectives?

Why stories matter

Stories – whether told through picture books, dance, images, math equations, songs or oral retellings – are one of the most fundamental ways in which we communicate.

Nearly 80 years ago, Louise Rosenblatt, a widely known scholar of literature, articulated that we understand ourselves through the lives of characters in stories. She argued that stories help readers understand how authors and their characters think and why they act in the way they do.

Similarly, research conducted by Kathy Short, a scholar of children’s literature, also shows that children learn to develop through stories a critical perspective about how to engage in social action.

Stories help children develop empathy and cultivate imaginative and divergent thinking – that is, thinking that generates a range of possible ideas and/or solutions around story events, rather than looking for single or literal responses.

Impact of stories

So, when and where do children develop perspectives about their world, and how do stories shape that?

Studies have shown that children develop their perspectives on aspects of identity such as gender and race before the age of five.

A key work by novelist John Berger suggests that very young children begin to recognize patterns and visually read their worlds before they learn to speak, write or read printed language. The stories that they read or see can have a strong influence on how they think and behave.

For example, research conducted by scholar Vivian Vasquez shows that young children play out or draw narratives in which they become part of the story. In her research, Vasquez describes how four-year-old Hannah mixes reality with fiction in her drawings of Rudolph the reindeer. Hannah adds a person in the middle with a red X above him, alongside the reindeer.

Children can mix reality and fiction in their interpretation of stories.
Margaret Almon, CC BY-NC-ND

Vasquez explains that Hannah had experienced bullying by the boys in the class and did not like seeing that Rudolph was called names and bullied by other reindeer when she read Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Vasquez suggests that Hannah’s picture conveyed her desire not to have the boys tease Rudolph, and more importantly, her.

My own research has yielded similar insights. I have found that children internalize the cultural and gender roles of characters in the stories.

In one such study that I conducted over a six-week period, third grade children read and discussed the role of male and female characters through a number of different stories.

Children then reenacted gender roles (eg, girls as passive; evil stepsisters). Later, children rewrote these stories as “fractured fairy tales.” That is, children rewrote characters and their roles into those that mirrored present-day roles that men and women take on. The roles for girls, for example, were rewritten to show they worked and played outside the home.

Subsequently, we asked the girls to draw what they thought boys were interested in and boys to draw what they thought girls were interested in.

We were surprised that nearly all children drew symbols, stories and settings that represented traditional perceptions of gendered roles. That is, boys drew girls as princesses in castles with a male about to save them from dragons. These images were adorned with rainbows, flowers and hearts. Girls drew boys in outdoor spaces, and as adventurers and athletes.

Drawing by an eight-year-old boy.
Author provided

For example, look at the image here, drawn by an eight-year-old boy. It depicts two things: First, the boy recreates a traditional storyline from his reading of fairy tales (princess needs saving by a prince). Second, he “remixes” his reading of fairy tales with his own real interest in space travel.

Even though he engaged in discussions on how gender should not determine particular roles in society (eg, women as caregivers; men as breadwinners), his image suggests that reading traditional stories, such as fairy tales, contributes to his understanding of gender roles.

Our findings are further corroborated by the work of scholar Karen Wohlwend, who found a strong influence of Disney stories on young children. In her research, she found that very young girls, influenced by the stories, are more likely to become “damsels in distress” during play.

However, it is not only the written word that has such influence on children. Before they begin to read written words, young children depend on pictures to read and understand stories. Another scholar, Hilary Janks, has shown that children interpret and internalize perspectives through images – which is another type of storytelling.

Stories for change

Scholars have also shown how stories can be used to change children’s perspectives about their views on people in different parts of the world. And not just that; stories can also influence how children choose to act in the world.

For example, Hilary Janks works with children and teachers on how images in stories on refugees influence how refugees are perceived.

Kathy Short studied children’s engagement with literature around human rights. In their work in a diverse K-5 school with 200 children, they found stories moved even such such young children to consider how they could bring change in their own local community and school.

These children were influenced by stories of child activists such as Iqbal, a real-life story of Iqbal Masih, a child activist who campaigned for laws against child labor. (He was murdered at age 12 for his activism.) Children read these stories along with learning about human rights violations and lack of food for many around the world. In this school, children were motivated to create a community garden to support a local food bank.

Building intercultural perspectives

Today’s classrooms represent a vast diversity. In Atlanta, where I teach and live, in one school cluster alone, children represent over 65 countries and speak over 75 languages.

Indeed, the diversity of the world is woven into our everyday lives through various forms of media.

When children read stories about other children from around the world, such as “Iqbal,” they learn new perspectives that both extend beyond beyond and also connect with their local contexts.

At a time when children are being exposed to negative narratives about an entire religious group from US presidential candidates and others, the need for children to read, see, and hear global stories that counter and challenge such narratives is, I would argue, even greater.

The Conversation

Peggy Albers, Professor of language and literacy education, Georgia State University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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