Inquiry project

Part I: Exploration
1. Identify the issue or problem that you plan to focus on in your Inquiry Project. For my inquiry project, I would like to focus on the issues surrounding literacy at an early age (preschool-kindergarten).

2. What is your personal connection to and interest in this topic? The personal connection I have that raises my interest level in this topic is my love for children aged four-six. Although I love children of all ages, I feel that the preschool years are the most important to a child’s learning. Not only is their learning just important, the children are interested and curious about everything. This makes for the perfect time to introduce a child to literacy.
I was a tutor many years ago, it was more of an informal thing for a neighbor I used to baby-sit, for a five year old who was just beginning to learn how to read. She was having many problems differentiating sounds to words and tended to read without pausing for periods and commas. Tutoring her made me appreciate the instruction I had from a young age but also made me realize that not everyone is taught to read properly from an early age.

3. What opinions do you already hold about this topic?
I believe that literacy is one of the most critical areas of learning for a young child and if it is not taught correctly or early enough in a child’s life, the instruction will not be as effective as it would have been earlier on.
I also believe that by simply reading to your or other children on a daily basis, many times a day, is crucial to their interest in reading themselves and learning the language. Although reading is important, the tone of voice in which you read in is just as important. The more a child senses you are engaged and willing to read, the more they will want to take part in reading as well.
4. What knowledge do you already have about this topic. What are your main questions about this topic? What are you most curious about? I do not have any professional teaching experience nor have I done any observing at any schools, however; working at a daycare with various age groups for three years has given me some sort of feel for the need for reading and literacy instruction at an early age.
I am curious about the process in which a child learns literacy and how people (parents, teachers, etc.) go about expanding on their learning and keep up their interest in the subject.

6. How might composition theorists and researchers approach or study this topic? Does this approach differ from those of other related disciplines (such as communication studies)?
After answering the questions above, I am beginning to see that an approach to this topic would best come from psychologists who do research on children and their learning process and habits. A researcher may delve into the issues surrounding literacy and gather their information through surveys of people with young children and possibly by conducting interviews with teachers and or parents to explore teaching methods and thoughts on literacy in general.
7. How could you research this topic outside the library (for example, through interviews and/or observations)?
I feel as though I would have an easy time researching he topic of learning literacy in young children because I presently work at daycare in which I work with children of all ages and have access to other teachers’ thoughts and opinions.
Also, my sister-in-law’s mother and aunt and uncle are all middle school teachers whose lesson plans all include reading and writing. I could interview them on their views and methods of teaching literacy and inquire about the types of issues they see regarding the child’s learning of literacy throughout a typical school year.
Lastly, I could put out a survey to parents of young children in which would address their child’s learning habits and how the parents themselves help their child acquire the knowledge of reading.

Write an initial claim, or an open-ended question, to guide your research on this topic. Make it specific but exploratory. Remember that a good claim opens up an area of inquiry about a topic; a claim should invite evidence, support, and debate.

There are many issues revolving around the subject of literacy in young children and if the issues are not met at an early enough age, chances for that child’s knowledge on the topic are not guaranteed to be as successful as a child whose needs have been met and have been properly taught language and literacy.
Parents and teachers of young children need to realize how crucial it is for a child to be introduced to literacy at a young age.