IVCCs Early Childhood Education program is featured in the April 29 Newsweek magazine story "The Right Way to Read."
The article includes comments from ECE Center director Sallee Beneke and two photos, one of four children doing field sketching at Bianchi's Pizza in Ottawa, and the other of instructor Marilyn Worsley reading to the children at nap time.
Beneke was surprised when the article appeared, but only because her interviews with a Newsweek reporter were more than a year ago. Newsweek correspondent Karen Springen visited IVCC late in February 2001,
"I had really given up on it," Beneke said. "My students practically had to adminsiter CPR when I got the phone call (that the article was published)," she said.
Beneke said she kept the Newsweek interview quiet at the time because the reporter said she didn't want the competition to scoop her magazine. The reporter said publication could be as long as two months away.
Newsweek was referred to Beneke by Dr. Lilian Katz, professor emerita of early childhood education at the U of I because of a book Beneke wrote entitled "Rearview Mirror" and because the IVCC center allows visitors to observe the project approach.
Under IVCC's Project Approach children at the center do in-depth investigations about topics that are part of their everyday life such as cars or pizza. The children ask questions about the topic, do research to find the answers and actually make representations of the product. They then write about their experiences.
"We aren't 'teaching reading'," Beneke told Newsweek, "but we are teaching the precursors to reading by encouraging children to understand that things we draw and write about can be useful for communication."
After the article appeared, Beneke said "I'm glad that we were chosen as an example of a literacy rich program. We encourage emergent reading and writing skills through the project approach. I think this approach helps children see the usefulness of reading and writing, and so they want to read and write."