LITERACY AND LITERACIES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Abstract

Reading and writing are present from a very early age in an individual’s life, whether they are children, young people, or adults. Every child has the right to access literate culture from the earliest years of life. Therefore, this process should be introduced during early childhood education, as children come into contact with written language both in their family and social environments. The following study explores the particularities of written language acquisition and investigates how children are introduced to the world of writing during early childhood education. The objective is to identify different ways of integrating literacy and reading and writing practices into early childhood education and to understand the importance of this process at this stage of schooling. The theoretical framework of this study is based on authors such as Vygotsky (1998), Mello (2009), Soares (2006), and Tfouni (2002), among others. This is a qualitative and documentary study, with data collected at a municipal public school. The results reveal different possibilities for introducing children to the world of writing and their implications, particularly when these practices are applied inadequately. The analysis of the collected material demonstrated how the process of written language acquisition takes place in early childhood education. It was observed that there are still weaknesses in the activities proposed by the institution, with excessive emphasis on mechanization during the initial stages of writing development. However, it is important to highlight that some writing activities already indicate more meaningful learning experiences for children.