Why can't she remember that?
I chose to write a think piece on Terry Meier's, Why can't she remember that? I chose this piece because the description jumped out at me, "the importance of storybook reading in multilingual, multicultural classrooms." This piece reminded me of my First Year Seminar called Grimm and Glitter. We talk about storybooks/fairytales and their effects on a child's life. I find that reading books as a child has a great impact on the way a child speaks when they are older. Even in college, reading is essential to one's language skills. When a child is younger their brains are more prone to obtaining a concept for life, such as verbal and nonverbal learning. Meier states, "Children who don't have many early book reading experiences learn their cultural lessons through interactions with family and other community members, from oral stories, and from observations of other people's behavior."Although this is true, I find this could also have a negative impact on a child's life. Some kids can be vulnerable to the idea of growing up and if they are observing the ways older people live their life, they could be receiving the wrong lessons.
Thus the title of this piece, Why can't she remember that?, is very important. A child will have a heard time remembering and grasping language if they did not experience it when they were young. This reminds me how important it is to learn a different language younger. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/11151726/Children-should-start-learning-languages-at-age-three.html This article, Children should start learning languages at age three, discusses a Harvard University study on learning additional languages increases critical thinking skills, creativity and flexibility of the mind in a young child. Thus the same goes for the importance of storytelling.
Point to bring up in class:
What was your favorite childhood story to read? What kind of impact did it have on your life? Mine was Cinderella, to this day I still remember the story and believe in happily ever after although it is not realistic.
I do agree with you that a child will have a hard time remembering and grasping a language if they did not experience it when they were young. My first speaking language was Spanish and when I moved to the U.S. at the age of 8 I had a hard time trying to learn the English language. I had to first take bilingual classes in order to move on to regular English speaking classes. Now that I am fluent in English i would not only give credit to my Bilingual teachers but also to those Disney channel movies and shows I binged watched when i was a child. I grew up with those stories and at times mimicked lines from those movies and shows. The more I mimicked them the more I kept speaking English and learning on my own.
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