Children come to school with the experience of spoken language. Its implication is that—

Modern constructivist language pedagogy holds that children arrive at school with rich oral language experiences from their home and community. The classroom should build on this foundation rather than ignore or 'correct' it. Teachers should use these prior linguistic experiences as a resource to scaffold new learning, connecting written language and standard forms to what children already know orally. Discarding or correcting their home language harms self-esteem and learning.