ABSTRACT

Vander Zanden, Meacham, Frost, and Strange wrote the following:

Reclaiming early childhood literacies should involve fostering creative collaboration with and among children, advocating for the integration of young children’s interests in literacy practices, and understanding the intellectual importance of playful collaborations.

p. 268 Such reclaiming work takes place in an inner city school in Melbourne, Australia. The old brick school building has classrooms opening from three sides of a large central shared space called the Hall. The Hall Program, as it has come to be known, began in the early 1980s. The Hall is set up as an engaging early childhood classroom, with multiple designated play areas. Children choose to play in the home corner, the shop, large and small building areas, a space center with imaginary characters and vehicles for space travel, a writing corner, and a tinkering center, where they may take apart and examine old pieces of equipment which no longer work, like clocks and typewriters. A felt board, puppet theatre, water toys, a sand tray, a carpentry bench and large easels inspire the children’s play.