Development of Early Literacy and Critical Lessons

     Literacy development begins as early as a child's first exposure to reading and writing such as being "read to for the first time" (Whitmore, Martens, Goodman, & Owocki 39). This happens prior to formal instruction. The path to literacy is unique for every child and involves social and cultural influence, hypothesis testing, idiosyncratic development, and the simultaneous development of concepts.  
     Social and cultural aspects influence literacy development. It is important for teachers to recognize that students come from a variety of families and cultures. All families are literate and they use varied symbol systems that "may not fit mainstream expectations in school, but achieve functionality and intellectual purpose in families' daily lives" (Whitmore, et al. 303). Teachers must help the students transition from their familiar household literacy into the academic literacy environment.
     Children utilize hypothesis testing as a strategy for understanding the complexities of language. As they learn more concepts, their hypotheses are altered to fit newly gathered knowledge (Owocki 8). Their hypotheses are similar to rules they follow in reading and writing; as they discover exceptions to the rule, they modify the idea. By conducting observations and finding patterns in their work, teachers can discover what hypotheses the child is using to guide his thinking. Children may not vocalize their ideas as hypothesis testing can be an internal process, but teachers can make inferences.
     Development of literacy is idiosyncratic meaning that "children's progress is unique" (Owocki 8) and pertains to the individual.Students who are part of the same classroom are bound to learn differently and demonstrate concepts differently.  Literacy is influenced by a variety of factors and in addition to being a social and cultural practice, it is also individual.

Sources:
Owocki, G. (2001). Make way for literacy: Teaching the way young children learn. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.