Building a Foundation for Preschool Literacy —
Abstract of

Chapter 1
How Children Learn to Read and Write

Carol Vukelich

James Christie

This chapter begins by briefly reviewing the key beliefs and research base of two major perspectives on early reading and writing: emergent literacy and science-based reading research. Emergent literacy researchers have investigated concepts of print, the development of emergent reading and writing, and home literacy learning. Results indicate that young children learn a considerable amount about print before they enter school. Science-based reading research has shown that preschool-age children's oral language, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and print awareness are strong predictors of successfully learning to read and that these “science-based” skills can be increased via age-appropriate forms of explicit instruction. We present our view that these two divergent perspectives need to be merged and blended together in order to provide effective early literacy instruction, highlighting eight basic principles that translate theory to practice. Two effective teaching strategies are highlighted: shared writing, which is rooted in emergent literacy; and phonemic awareness instruction, a key component of the science-based approach.

Vukelich, C., & Christie, J. (2009). How Children Learn to Read and Write. In Building a Foundation for Preschool Literacy (pp. 1-15). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.