Much more than the ABCs: the early stages of reading and writing

1. The early years : a time to begin

When do children begin to learn about reading and writing?

Myths about literacy development

Goals of this book

2. The beginning : babies and books

Matching books to a baby's development

Birth to 3 months

What babies can do

Books new babies enjoy

Suggestions for reading to the baby

4 to 6 months

What babies can do

Books 4- to 6-month-old babies enjoy

Suggestions for reading to the baby

7 to 9 months

What babies can do

Books 7- to 9-month-old babies enjoy

Suggestions for reading to the baby

9 to 12 months

What babies can do

Books 9- to 12-month-old babies enjoy

Suggestions for reading to the baby

12 to 18 months

What babies can do

Books 12- to 18-month-old babies enjoy

Suggestions for reading to the baby

19 to 30 months

What toddlers can do

Books that toddlers enjoy

Suggestions for reading to the toddler

Book behaviors

Sharing books with infants and toddlers in group settings

Creating a book nook

Books for babies

3. Preschoolers and books : contexts for learning about language and the world

Books and language learning

Learning new words from books

Book characteristics and word learning

Strategies for increasing children's word learning from storybooks

Explicit instruction on word meanings in "real-world" contexts

Explicit instruction on word meanings in the story-reading context

Storybook experience and overall language development

Book experience and the development of text structure knowledge

Book reading and sensitivity to the sounds of language

Phonemic segmentation and learning to read and write

Using books to prime conscious sensitivity to phonemes

Books and background knowledge

Good books for preschoolers

4. Preschoolers and books : contexts for reading, props for children's play

Reading along with others ; reading all by themselves

Predictable books support chiming in and independent retelling

Strategies used in storybook reading

Storybook-reading behavior : experience matters

From "story not formed" to "story formed," and from "oral-language-like" to "written-language-like"

From picture-governed to print-governed reading

Reluctance to read : preludes to a major step forward

Learning to enjoy reading and being a reader

Making books available to children in the preschool classroom

Selecting books for and displaying books in a book area

Type of books

Appeal of the book-area display

Listening post, flannel boards, and puppets

Care of books

Providing social support for children's use of books

Books as props to support children's play

Summary.

5. Young children and writing

Getting writing to look like writing

Making marks : from scribble to alphabet letters

Early scribble writing

A few letters appear

Mock letters

Writing with and practicing letters

Choosing from a writing repertoire

Learning to write alphabet letters

Fine-motor development and handwriting

Organizing writing on a page

Learning that alphabet letters represent speech at the phoneme level

Children's early hypotheses about how words are created

Visual hypotheses

Words are related physically to what they represent

Writing consists of arbitrary visual designs

Letter strings are based on visual rules

The transition from visual hypotheses to sound-based hypotheses

Phoneme-level invented spellings

Does inventing spellings harm children?

Phoneme-based spelling combined with orthographic information

Learning about the many purposes of writing

Learning to think about an audience

Supporting children's writing efforts

6. Organizing the environment to support literacy development

Using print to organize the preschool classroom

Labels and signs

Charts

Helper and attendance charts

Daily schedule and calendar charts

Recipe charts

Lists

Summary

Using print in classroom activities

Materials for specific literacy practice

Alphabet-learning materials

Alphabet manipulatives

Alphabet books

Sound materials

Word-making materials

Summary

Conclusion

Appendix 1. Helping children learn about reading

Appendix 2. Learning to read and write.