“Talk is the foundation of a child’s learning life. Through language meaning is built.” Lucy Calkins says in her book Raising Lifelong Learners.
When children begin to converse it is crucial they feel heard. We must listen openly to them, “If you want children to talk with you, you need to accept what they say and to listen for what they are feeling.” Showing appropriate responses to children who share their stories profoundly shapes their future responses to events and people in their lives.
Calkins encourages, “The journeys that most need to be shared are the daily ones… When we encourage our children to retell a day’s events, we help motivate them to rethink those events and their responses to those events.” Children will begin to learn patterns and make connections the more they are included in conversation and have responses to their words.
