It’s that time of year again. The holidays are approaching and we start thinking about all the fun crafts we can do with our little ones. Yes, crafts are fun and cute, but as with all activities, be sure to consider what makes crafting meaningful for young children and always consider the purpose of the… Read more »
Tag: Science of Reading
How to Develop Phonological and Phonemic Awareness During Emergent Literacy
During the emergent literacy stage our earliest developing readers and writers, typically aged birth to two years, are just beginning to understand and manipulate the sounds and structures of language. Even though children in this stage are not yet explicitly aware of phonemes and phonological concepts, there are strategies that promote language development that also… Read more »
Classroom Design with Literacy in Mind
Designing early childhood classrooms that support literacy skills development requires thoughtful organization, intentional material placement, and establishing routines that include literacy activities. Let’s take a closer look at some strategies that create settings that support the development of children’s literacy skills: Label Items: Label children’s personal items and classroom materials with pictures and words. Labeling… Read more »
Meeting Everyone’s Needs- Foundational Principle 6: Family Engagement
If you haven’t yet, be sure to visit this original blog post which shared 6 evidence-based foundational principles for supporting all children to be successful in their early childhood environments: https://blogs.iu.edu/earlyliteracy/2025/04/25/all-really-does-mean-all/ . The sixth and final foundational principle is Family Engagement. It requires engaging with families and supporting them to use evidence-based early literacy practices… Read more »
Making Story Time Magical: Fun Ways to Involve Young Children
Engaging young minds by making story time interactive fosters their early literacy and cognitive skills development. Caregivers and educators can significantly enhance language acquisition, imagination, and social skills by making story time interactive. Recent research has found that interactive story time has a positive impact on children’s brain development, imagination, language, and learning. Interactive story… Read more »
Small Objects, Big Words: Boosting Early Literacy through Show and Tell
Whether you call it “Show and Tell”, “Sharing Time”, “All About Me” or some other name, providing children opportunities to share information about themselves and their preferences is a classic classroom activity that offers a powerful way to develop early literacy skills, especially in young children. Encouraging children to bring objects from home and describe… Read more »
Developing Early Literacy through Child-Directed Play
Child-directed play has emerged as a significant approach to developing children’s early literacy skills supported by recent research and educational practices. Play is the primary mode through which young children learn and develop. It encompasses various types, including free play, guided play, and structured play. Free play is child-initiated and directed, allowing children to explore… Read more »
Connecting Early Literacy and the Science of Reading
The ability to read and comprehend written language opens doors to knowledge, creativity, and personal growth. However, not all approaches to teaching reading are evidence-based. That’s where the Science of Reading comes in. It’s a comprehensive framework rooted in cognitive science and linguistics that provides concrete information about how we learn to read and how… Read more »
The “High Five” Early Literacy Skills
As you know, literacy is one of the most important aspects of early childhood development and includes what I like to refer to as the “High Five” early literacy skills: 1) phonological and phonemic awareness; 2) alphabet knowledge, 3) concepts about print 4) oral language and 5) early writing. The “High Five” early literacy skills… Read more »
A (Not So) Simple View of Reading?
We know a lot about teaching reading well. I say this (too) frequently in my work as a literacy researcher and teacher educator. We know a lot about teaching reading well. I say it so much because I want the teachers I work with to know that there are scientific ways to help young children become… Read more »