In, “The Development of Initial Literacy” by Yetta Goodman explains how children establish and mature writing and reading throughout literacy events. Literacy events are incidents where literacy actually has a task in a person’s life. She also says how children “respond to names, logotypes, and directions (page 318)” and that the children truly comprehend the true meaning(s). When she gives the example of when a stop sign’s importance is, Yetta Goodman says that child understands the meaning. However, depending on the age of the child, does this child actually process this information into their minds that this sign means, “STOP” and know what they are stopping for? Or does the child remember their parents telling them that a stop sign means you must look both ways before crossing the street so that every time they see that sign, they do not know why they are stopping; they just remember their parents telling them to do so.
I guess I have to say that I am hesitant to fully agree with Yetta Goodman’s analysis. I do not believe that a preschool aged child grasps (for instance) what the directions are of an activity, the teacher tells them what they are suppose to do, and the children do it. On the other hand, an elementary child may be able to interpret these directions without being told what to do and be successful. Do you think children are capable of analyzing such things like directions, books they have read, or even signal signs? Do they actually understand the true meaning? Or do you believe that specific ages are capable of doing so? It seems to me, it depends on what age group you are considering.