Young children need developmentally appropriate experiences and teaching to support literacy learning. These include but are not limited to:
- Positive, nurturing relationships with adults who engage in responsive conversations with individual children, model reading and writing behavior, and foster children’s interest in and enjoyment of reading and writing.
- Print-rich environments that provide opportunities and tools for children to see and use written language for a variety of purposes, with teachers drawing children’s attention to specific letters and words Adults’ daily reading of high-quality books to individual children or small groups, including books that positively reflect children’s identity, home language, and culture.
- Opportunities for children to talk about what is read and to focus on the sounds and parts of language as well as the meaning Teaching strategies and experiences that develop phonemic awareness, such as songs, fingerplays, games, poems, and stories in which phonemic patterns such as rhyme and alliteration are salient.
- Opportunities to engage in play that incorporates literacy tools, such as writing grocery lists in dramatic play, making signs in block building, and using icons and words in exploring a computer game Firsthand experiences that expand children’s vocabulary, such as trips in the community and exposure to various tools, objects, and materials.