Meaning Matters

Written by Kim Turgeon

Have you ever stopped to think how many times you read or write during the course of your day?

Our children see us using reading and writing in meaningful contexts all day long.

Every time you write a note for the babysitter or make a shopping list you are serving to model literacy for your children.

Translation: "Dear Macaroni and Cheese, you are delicious."

On a daily basis we can and should provide children with purposeful reading and writing opportunities. However, there are also opportunities that we can expand into even richer experiences. I am talking about opportunities where children can see a project through from planning to production. 

I recently had a parent of one of my students tell me a story of her daughter's lemonade stand. It is one of the most amazing examples of a parent listening to her child’s idea and capitalizing on it as a learning opportunity. What makes this example stand out is not the activity itself but the process. Through the entire lemonade stand experience learning was optimized and the child could apply her developing language and literacy skills in a real context.

One of my former posts talked about this in relation to the Dramatic Play area. http://www.meaning-matters.org/apps/blog/categories/show/1352906-dramatic-play 

Even the most reluctant writers wanted to write, when it was motivated by making signs for our Haunted House or Post Office. The idea behind having children read and write in natural settings and functional experiences is that children see that they can use written language to make things happen.

The Lemonade Stand

Lilly, a 6-year-old girl with a great amount of self-drive, asked her mother if she could have a lemonade stand. Instead of her mother saying "yes" and just setting up a lemonade stand, Lilly embarked on a rich business experience.

Here are the steps Lilly’s mom took to expand on this interest:

1. Lilly’s mother had her write a shopping list for all the supplies that she would need from fruit to cups. 
2. Lilly and her mother went to the market and Lilly wrote down the cost of each item on her list. This was a very real lesson in comparison-shopping! As her mother states, “choose your own apples came to $8.50 while a ready made bag of apples was only $2.50 -- that unto itself was a great lesson!” 
3. On Marathon Monday, signs were made, fruit was washed, a location was chosen and employees were hired! Lilly set off on her first business venture. Lilly even had to negotiate a salary for her employees. Her sister was able to negotiate a $5 salary!
4. After her employees were hired, each job was carefully planned right down to what would be said when customers arrived.
5. Lilly and her employees worked a long hard day of asking their customers what they needed, serving them and making change. 
6. They totaled their earnings. Lilly paid her parents for the supplies and paid her employees from the money she took in. The remainder she kept as her profit. “She chose to use part of it to purchase a toy, saved part of it, and gave part of it to charity. She worked really hard and was at least as proud of herself as we were of her,” said her mother. 

Some Of The Skills Utilized In This Experience:

• Writing: sign making, list making 
• Reading: lists, grocery flyers, food labels, recipes 
• Oral Language: Asking customers what they like, giving directions to her employees
• Math: comparing prices, making change, measuring 

Projects like this take time, and believe me as a mom of three, I completely understand that it is not feasible to have every interest turn into this type of experience. It is hard enough to get grocery shopping done (in a less than painful manner) sometimes without having your child compare apples to apples. But I do believe that is an invaluable opportunity for children to experience literacy and math in a meaningful context.

Your Challenge:

Make it a goal this summer to find a minimum of one project that you can help your child see through from start to finish. Please share your experiences with us.

** Remember that numerous studies have shown that children are more likely to engage in literacy tasks when they have a genuine purpose or motivation for doing so.