St. John Valley Technology Center

Written by Danielle Levesque and Ashley Raymond

On November 6, students from the Early Childhood Occupations program attended a workshop in Caribou, ME, entitled Weaving the Threads of Literacy.  This workshop was presented by the National Head Start Family Literacy Center, and the guest speaker was Kathryn Bell.

Participants learned that two of the most important skills to get children ready to read are vocabulary development, and understanding the alphabetic principle.  The workshop focused on understanding the alphabetic principle, and on practicing a variety of developmentally appropriate strategies that allow infants, toddlers and preschoolers to develop strong skills in this area.

During the workshop, participants divided into small groups to explore ways to present literacy concepts in daily settings such as dramatic play, car rides, shopping, routines and transitions, field trips, and meals.

All of the students found the workshop to be highly beneficial.