Why This Matters
- Literacy development begins well before children learn to read Preschool is a critical period for building the foundational skills that support later reading and writing.
- Children who enter kindergarten with weaker literacy skills are more likely to experience continued reading difficulties.
- Early literacy includes interconnected skills—sound awareness, letter knowledge, oral language, vocabulary, print knowledge, and early writing.
- Responsive, high-quality preschool instruction can help address early differences in literacy development before they become more difficult to overcome.
What the Evidence Shows
- Explicit, systematic, and scaffolded instruction produces the strongest literacy outcomes across the reviewed studies.
- Brief, frequent instruction is most effective: 10–20 minutes, 4–5 times per week.
- Literacy instruction works best when sound awareness is connected to letters, oral language, reading, and writing, rather than taught as isolated skills.
- Multisensory approaches—including sound boxes, letter tiles, visual supports, and opportunities to watch and practice articulation—are commonly used in effective
- The quality and consistency of instruction appear to matter more than the use of a particular commercial curriculum.
Policy and Systems Priorities
- Protect time for brief, frequent, intentional literacy instruction within preschool
- Invest in professional learning that helps educators use explicit modeling, scaffolding, corrective feedback, and multisensory instruction.
- Support approaches that integrate sound awareness with oral language, shared reading, vocabulary, and early writing.
- Ensure preschool educators have access to appropriate instructional materials and tools that support sound–print connections.
- Support continued research on which instructional approaches work best across diverse populations and whether early gains are sustained into elementary school.
What to Watch For
- Literacy instruction that relies primarily on occasional or lengthy lessons rather than consistent practice.
- Programs that teach phonological or phonemic awareness as isolated skills without connecting them to meaningful literacy experiences.
- Overreliance on a commercial program while giving limited attention to instructional quality and teacher implementation.
- Professional development that introduces materials or programs without providing educators with opportunities to practice and receive support.
- Decisions based on evidence that does not adequately represent diverse children and
Equity Considerations
- Children enter preschool with different experiences with language, books, print, and
- Children experiencing developmental language difficulties or other early literacy challenges may need more intentional and sustained support.
- Research currently provides limited demographic information, making it difficult to determine how consistently findings apply across diverse populations.
- Equitable early literacy systems should ensure that children who need additional support receive it early, consistently, and within high-quality learning environments.
Key Takeaway
Strong preschool literacy systems prioritize well-prepared educators, brief and frequent evidence-based instruction, and integrated literacy experiences that build the foundation for later reading success.
The information provided in this summary is based on findings from Supporting Phonological and Phonemic Awareness in Preschool: A Systematic Review of Classroom-Based Emergent Literacy Practices.
