To be honest, remembering pre-school years is turning out much harder than I thought it would be. However, I have the privilege of being the oldest so have seen my siblings grow and experience many of the same interactions, etc. as I did.
One of the things that I have no doubt was a huge part of the learning process for me was simple identification of numerous animals, especially farm animals. I can imagine out with my dad, pointing out the horse, the dog, the cow. I am sure that what followed was a question and answer where Dad asked what each animal "said." I of course responded with the learned animal sound (neigh, bark, moo).
I don't recall bedtime stories as much, but I do know of a children's Bible that was handed down from each of my siblings to the next, supposedly starting with me. I have known the answers and stories in the Bible for as long as I can possibly remember so that was probably a very significant part of my educational background. From Cubbies (Wednesday night church for pre-school age kids) to Sunday school, children's church, and my little Bible, I am sure I had alot of "schooling" in Biblical information at a very very young age.
Also, until I was four years old, my parents worked at a summer camp. I was constantly around adults and, during the summer, was around many young people varying in age from 3rd grade through high school. Their influence no doubt helped nurture conversation, identification, and interaction in my young mind.
As I think about it, I realize how many pre-school experiences I did have that prepared me for school in many ways. However, I can't help thinking about how unintentional it all was. My parents, as mentioned before, had very limited post secondary education; neither are scholars. Obviously, they always wanted the best opportunities for me and my siblings, but they would not have had any better idea at how to prepare me for "the language of school" than any other person who spoke English as a first language. We have never been wealthy. I think we would technically classify as middle-class, but the middle-class in the article sounds like a much higher middle-class than my family is. So again, I still do not understand how this preparedness for school can be correlated with social economic status.
I also remember my parents putting a large emphasis on forming a connection between what an animal looks like, sounds and is called. They did this for anything that I could see or touch, it made the word become real. I remember reading along with my parents but not imagined bed time stories.
ReplyDeleteSummer camp played a huge role in my development. From the time I was allowed to be in camp I was, and when I was old enough for sleep away camp I went there too. I had to learn how to interact with my peers and how to behave around my elders. Before I entered a real class room.