Early Reading and Writing with Preschoolers

This article provides information on how to create a box filled with inspiring writing materials that can help a budding writer build confidence and skills. The Center for Early Literacy Learning offers other Practice Guides for use with Parents.

This provides information, videos and resources for teaching the alphabet. Teachers can help young students develop the understanding that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds through lots of fun activities that help students explore the alphabet letters and sounds.

This page provides information on the alphabetic principle, including the definition of the principle and the progression of regular word reading and irregular word reading.

This 2 minute video addresses the benefits of daily sign in sheets for early literacy skills, including adaptations to support students at different stages of writing development.

This website includes links to screening tools, skill-building activities, tips for parents, and literacy games and checklists. Also in Chinese, Korean and Arabic.

This provides an activity on making inferences. Inferences are what we figure out based on an experience. Helping a child understand when information is implied (or not directly stated) will improve their skill in drawing conclusions and making inferences.

This page provides detailed information on several activities that can help young children learn early reading skills.

This provides resources and information on print awareness (also called concepts of print) which is the understanding that print carries meaning, that books contain letters and words.

This provides introduction to print awareness for young children. Children with print awareness can begin to understand that written language is related to oral language and is a predictor of future reading achievement.

This website provides resources to help parents or providers get young children on track to be good readers, including reading milestones, screening and reading activities.

This provides tips for fun ways to help your child become a happy and confident reader.

This 3-minute video on shared reading shows simple but powerful ways to promote early literacy skills in 4 and 5 year olds.

This article describes in detail a technique for a three-step interactive read aloud using sophisticated storybooks.

This 4-minute video explains the seven stages of children’s writing and provides tips on encouraging writing through these stages.

This article aims to educate about the different stages young children go through in developing their spelling skills and how phonetic or “invented” spelling can play an important role in helping children learn how to write.