Erin Beslee

Early childhood teacher and literacy contributor

Erin Beslee is an early childhood teacher who graduated from Charles Sturt University in Bathurst. Her biography in Fast Forward to Success describes more than twenty years working with children aged three to five in community-based preschools in Sydney.

Her chapter begins with the questions parents ask as school approaches. Erin considers the wish to give a child a good start and the pressure that can arise when reading is treated primarily as a race or performance.

Help Your Child Cross the Bridge to Literacy uses classroom experience to discuss interest, play and sharing stories. One account follows a child whose engagement grew when books connected with a subject he already enjoyed.

Erin's contribution introduces a teacher concerned with the experience around learning as well as the skill itself. Time together, illustrations, language and an enjoyable relationship with books are recurring themes. Her professional history provides the context for her encouragement to make reading a meaningful part of everyday family life.