Australian children read for pleasure less and less as they move through primary school, with a noticeable decline emerging in the middle primary school years (Scholastic, 2019). It has also been found that "reading for pleasure at school" has become de-prioritised in primary schools, with greater emphasis in the broader literacy…

Based on an analysis of three literacy events in nursery schools, this article focuses on how literacy forms part of children's social practices and co-creates the language environment in the nursery and how place, affect and materiality play a key role in children's multimodal and embodied meaning-making around literacy. The analysis is based on…

This article addresses the characteristics of learners in the emergent stage of literacy development and describes two instructional practices that facilitate the development of the alphabetic principle and concept of word in text.

This research paper investigates how graduate early years practitioners support under-threes with early reading; presenting their perceptions and daily encounters. Previous research into the practice and pedagogy of early reading appears to have resulted in the latest overarching policy investment in phonics. This paper suggests that this…

Literacy gives children an opportunity to benefit from others' knowledge and experience that far exceeds what they can achieve when reliant on learning orally via personal encounters. Little is known about young children's understanding and use of print as a source of knowledge. Three experiments investigated children's use and understanding of…

Background: Comorbidity among developmental disorders such as dyslexia, language impairment, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and developmental coordination disorder is common. This study explores comorbid weaknesses in preschool children at family risk of dyslexia with and without language impairment and considers the role that…

Research Findings: The present study evaluated the effects of a Family Literacy program on the early English reading development of speakers of English as a first language (EL1s) and English language learners (ELLs). The study included a linguistically and culturally diverse sample of 132 kindergarten children and their parents. Families in the…

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether there are systematic differences in literacy skills among children from less-advantaged households, using latent profile analysis. Early reading skills were measured using the Early Arithmetic, Reading, and Learning Indicators (EARLI; DiPerna, Morgan, & Lei, 2007) literacy tasks.…

Speech problems and reading disorders are linked, suggesting that speech problems may potentially be an early marker of later difficulty in associating graphemes with phonemes. Current norms suggest that complete mastery of the production of the consonant phonemes in English occurs in most children at around 6-7 years. Many children enter formal…

Teaching students the most frequent sounds of the alphabet letters is the first crucial step in good phonics instruction. But beginning letter and sound lessons, especially if poorly taught or too rapidly paced, can be overwhelming and confusing for some young children and struggling readers. How can we simplify the cognitive task for such…

Much has been made by early childhood educators about the importance of activities that foster early reading--and deservedly so--but studies show that reading and writing are skills that children develop simultaneously. Early reading is supported and improved by early writing. Young children need reading to help them learn about writing, and they…

Early childhood education (PK-2) has become a site of increasing accountability, with the attempt to normalize instruction through "scientifically based" reading programs. The use of authentic children's literature for early literacy instruction is often pushed aside in lieu of highly scripted commercial programs. As early childhood teacher…

This meta-analysis examines to what extent interactive storybook reading stimulates two pillars of learning to read: vocabulary and print knowledge. The authors quantitatively reviewed 31 (quasi) experiments (n = 2,049 children) in which educators were trained to encourage children to be actively involved before, during, and after joint book…

Well-chosen and wisely shared literature facilitates transitions and builds bridges in the lives of young children. Literature links are discussed and books are reviewed for infant, toddler, preschool, and primary age children and transitional readers.

A variety of preschool curricula is available and in widespread use, however, there is a lack of evidence from rigorous evaluations regarding the effects of these curricula on children's school readiness. The lack of such information is important as early childhood center-based programs have been a major, sometimes the sole, component of a number…