The Literacy Explores program at CMSM provides guests with child-led play experiences based around the five early literacy practices; sing, talk, read, write, and play! These early literacy practices start with what caregivers are already doing with their children and build from there.
Spotlight on Early Literacy Practice: Write!
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During Literacy Explorers, guests can explore familiar stories through dramatic play, small-world play, sensory, and mark making. Mark Making is the first step to develop writing skills later in the child’s development journey. The story for this week was Federico and the Wolf/ Little Red Riding Hood. To expand on this play opportunity various activities were set-up to immerse guests into the story!
This week’s Mark Making activity invited guests to make a grocery list. For our younger guests, this may look like searching for fruits and veggies images from a grocery store ad or magazine, cutting them out, and gluing them down. Children may draw pictures of the food that they want or ask for help in spelling a word. With our programs being child-led, this allows the opportunity for children of all ages to come in with what knowledge they have and expand on those ideas and play schemas!
