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Early Literacy
Early language and literacy (reading and writing) development begins in the first three years of life and is closely linked to a child's earliest experiences with books and stories.
The relatively new understanding of early literacy development complements the current research supporting the critical role of early experiences in shaping brain development.
Recent research supports an interactive process of learning spoken and written language skills through experiences that begin in early infancy. Marie Clay, an educator, was the first to describe this process of learning to read and write as "emergent literacy" development. Also known as "early literacy" development, we now know that children gain significant knowledge of language, reading and writing long before they enter school. Simply put, early literacy research states that:
- Language, reading and writing skills develop at the same time and are intimately linked.
- Early literacy development is a continuous developmental process that begins in the first years of life.
- Early literacy skills develop in real life settings through positive interactions with literacy materials and other people.
"Our current understanding of early language and literacy development has provided new ways of helping children learn to talk, read and write. But it does not advocate "the teaching of reading" to younger and younger children. Formal instruction which pushes infants and toddlers to achieve adult models of literacy (i.e., the actual reading and writing of words) is not developmentally appropriate. Early literacy theory emphasizes the more natural unfolding of skills through the enjoyment of literacy-rich experiences. Formal instruction to require young children who are not developmentally ready to read is counter productive and potentially damaging to children, who may begin to associate reading and books with failure." 1
Early Literacy
1 What is Early Literacy?, from BrainWonders, a collaborative project of ZERO TO THREE, Erikson Institute and Boston University School of Medicine.
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