Page 111 - Reading Nest - The Supportive Literacy Environment Handbook

In order to support emergent literacy efficiently, activities in small groups should be

provided, and the learning process planned so that breaking into sub-groups is possible.

The current national curricula of basic school and pre-school establishments of Estonia
enable such planning, as themes, games and tasks of different subjects or fields may be

divided between different centres. Everything related to literacy accompanies not only
reading nest activities from an early age, but also games in other centres, such as board

games often requiring accounts to be kept on paper, creative games need signs and texts
etc. In school, assignments in all subject areas have written guidance and in group work

the results are mostly presented in the written form (or notes are taken to give an oral

presentation). Thus, language and speech activities in mother tongues in both the
kindergarten and primary school may easily be integrated into the work of various centres,

and the learning process becomes more meaningful, interesting and attractive.
Having a reading nest as a specific literacy centre in a classroom does not mean the entire

room should be divided into centres, although on the other hand, it might. Experiences

gathered in Estonia and elsewhere show the benefits of such space arrangement.
In order to support children’s development in kindergarten and primary school efficiently,

activities in small groups should be provided, and also the learning process planned so that
breaking into sub-groups is possible.

The physical environment of a classroom should enable targeted group activities in a

defined space. Desks can be easily rearranged for group work (and this is often done) but
the environment is more inspirational if defined spaces are more permanent. This often

means allocating clear territories for learning, play and work in different fields (art,
building, maths, literacy etc.).

In Estonia this approach is familiar already from the Step-by-Step methodology (system of
activity centres), today it is also seen in classrooms which use project learning methods,

e.g. in those applying Reggio Emilia principles.

Learning environments in kindergarten and school are quite different, as the first have more

learning based on themes and arising from children’s interests, and the group space is
organised in activity centres.

In several other countries we can see the same in school, which starts at the age of 4 or 5

but essentially closely resembles Estonian kindergarten, and the tendency continues
through to school (in Estonian terms) and where 10-12-year-olds also work in activity

centres.