Literacy Timeline

  • Historical Roots Of ECE and “Emergent Literacy”

    Historical Roots Of ECE and “Emergent Literacy”

    Started in the 1700s advances were being made in literature, Rousseau, Pestalozzi, and Froebel all greatly influenced this process by providing developmental theories to guide children to become successful learn, readers, and writers. Emergent Literacy began to rise, which was the belief that children must create their own reading, writing, and speaking to successfully acquire knowledge.
  • jean Jacques Rousseau

    jean Jacques Rousseau

    Rousseau was a philosopher in the 1700s (1712-1778) who believed that a child's early education should be natural. He stated children learn with freedom and curiosity.
  • Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi

    Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi

    Pestalozzi (1746-1827) believed in natural learning but with another dimension. He thought it is necessary for teachers to create a reading process to grow, by developing principles for learning that combined natural elements with informal instruction.
  • Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel

    Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel

    Froebel (1782-1852) believed in natural learning and followed in Pestalozzi's footsteps. He stressed the importance of play in a planned environment for child development and was the first educator to design a systematic curriculum fro young learners.
  • Constructivism and Whole Language

    Constructivism and Whole Language

    Constructivism can be traced all the way back to Rousseau's ideals but was significantly worked on along with the whole language between the 1900s and 1980s.
  • Reading Readiness

    Reading Readiness

    In the 1930s and 1940s, standardized tests were developed to indicate whether a child was old enough to learn to read. These tests became popular as they listed the four skills needed to read, and encouraged teachers to focus nurture children's maturation to prepare them for reading.
  • Maria Montessori

    Maria Montessori

    Montessori (1965) believed that children needed early systematic training to master a skill. She is known for her view on senses and systems. Not only did she believe in order but she believed children learn best in a hands-on environment, that utilizes all senses and where they have the freedom to make and correct their mistakes,
  • John Dewey

    John Dewey

    Dewey's 1966 philosophy led to the child-centered curriculum concept, otherwise known as progressive education. He believed that children learn through play and real-life settings built around their interests.
  • Jean Piaget

    Jean Piaget

    Piaget's 1969 Theory of development describes the intellectual capabilities of children at different stages of development. He believed in four stages of cognitive development, by which children learn from interacting with the world. Which has lead to natural problem solving and assimilation.
  • Research Era

    Research Era

    Between the 1960s and 1980s, researchers investigated the development of literacy, which brought many changes to our practices. Research from diverse settings was conducted to study the cognitive development of children.
  • Lev Vygotsky

    Lev Vygotsky

    Vygotsky developed the schema acquisition theory in 1978, which suggest learning takes place as children acquiring new concept. When children interact with one another and acquire feedback, concepts are acquired. He believes that children learn through internalizing activities and the language of others in the outside world.
  • Explicit Instructions and Phonics

    Explicit Instructions and Phonics

    During the mid-1980s and early 1990s, whole language instruction became controversial as the test scores for reading were not high enough. Many misinterpreted this philosophy and thought it meant whole group learning when indeed it advocated for small groups to better focus on children's needs and using phonics to break down the learning process and make learning easier.
  • Balanced Comprehensive Approach (Balanced Literacy)

    Balanced Comprehensive Approach (Balanced Literacy)

    It was made apparent that there was no one method to teach children reading, but a balance of a careful selection of theories and successful practices that have been researched.
  • National Reading Panel

    National Reading Panel

    This panel was formed at the request of congress to assess effective strategies to teach reading.
  • No Child Left Behind

    No Child Left Behind

    Money from the federal government went to funding this act along with reading first grants.
  • Common Core Standards

    Common Core Standards

    The work started in 2007, but many states have written their own version of standards
  • National Early Literacy Panel Report

    National Early Literacy Panel Report

    Know letters and sounds, Phonological awareness, rapid naming of letters and numbers, can write their name and letters, remember what was said to them for a while, and produce or comprehend spoken language
  • Read to Succeed

    Read to Succeed

    Act 284 was created to address literacy performance in South Carolina and place a comprehensive system of support. 284 provides a strong assessment and intervention system.