Best Practices for Enhancing Oral Language Development

Dr. Helen Perkins joined us for Brain Awareness Night on March 12, 2015, and gave this presentation on literacy and language development, and how parents and caregivers can encourage it.

Research indicates that children who enter Kindergarten with a plethora of oral language skills often have strong reading and writing skills. Oral Language development should consistently be encouraged even in the earliest stages of a child’s development. This presentation will provide researched-based best practices to promote language development in children.

J. Helen Perkins, Ed. D., is an Associate Professor of Reading and Urban Literacy in Instruction and Curriculum Leadership at the University of Memphis. She has published several articles, chapters, a book that offers content literacy strategies for teachers and a children’s book. Helen is also, a Common Core Author of Journeys (K – 5 Literacy Basal series). Her research focus is on children of poverty and their literacy acquisition and enhancement while working with urban, suburban and rural communities. Helen has over 37years in education, serving as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, literacy coach and various other capacities; she is also the former Editor of The Reading Teacher. Presently she serves as the President of the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers and Board Chair for Porter-Leath. Also, she serves her community by conducting workshops for parents and professional development for educators and administrators in the U.S. and other countries.