Chapters 5,6 and 7

I am glad that the Maturation Theory which suggested that children's learning should be stopped until age 6 has been discarded. I have observed the progress of my nieces and nephews' reading development. They were good readers at ages 4 and 5.

I whole heartedly agree with Holdaway's Theory of Literacy Development because of my personal experience. I had parents who read to me at an early age. I loved reading stories with pictures in it. My siblings and I went to the library very often. My parents were really my first teachers and role models for reading. I believe this theory is closely related to the Family Literacy Theory which teaches that parents should take an active role in the reading development of their children. This theory encourages parents to read aloud to children. Story-telling time should be an important part of their day. I believe that all of these activities greatly enhance the reading development of children.

The Emergent Lieracy Theory was also very interesting because it incorporates not only reading but writing. listening and speaking. This theory suggests that a child who reads will eventually excel in other areas like writing, comprehension, listening and speaking. One of my nephews, who is three, speaks and listens very well for his age. I am amazed at his vocabulary. I have no doubt that he will be reading and writing very soon. However, students with physical and learning disabilities have a difficult time with reading. I had students who read well but because of their poor motor skills, their writings were poor. Others with low cognitive development struggled to read the simplest sentences. I did not have a hearing or visually impaired student in my class but I believe that those disabilities would cause some of these students to struggle in their school work. I believe this ties in with the Substrata-Factor Theory of Reading which suggests that students-reading success depends on their cognitive , verbal ability and fine motor skills.

Another theory that was very informative was the Socio-Cultural Idea:Literature Circle. I believe that it is important that students bring in their experiences and culture into the classroom. My special needs class was 100% Hispanic. I tired to incorporate as much of their culture into my lesson plan. Athletes and entertainers who they knew were discussed in class. Different fruits and foods that they were familiar with were talked about in our Health/Nutrition class. My students were often asked to write, draw or speak about their trips or vacations to Puerto-Rico or other Hispanic countries. I believe this social interaction enhanced my class educationally.