Emergent Literacy in the Preschool Years

Abstract

Recent surveys of national literacy standards have prompted a barrage of accusations that schools are not doing their job (e.g. Sydney Morning Herald, 16 Sept. 1997). It is widely accepted that children who have not made the breakthrough to literacy by the end of Year 2 are likely to have continuing problems. There is less agreement about when literacy starts. The Australian Language and Literacy Council (1995) states that what children bring to school is the critical factor in literacy, and neurological research indicates that the first three years of life are a critical learning period (Newberger, 1997). The purpose of this paper is to invite early childhood staff to review their programs to ensure that children are supported in their emergent literacy. Suggestions are made of ways in which staff can provide appropriate emergent literacy experiences and of the learning that can take place through these experiences.