Why This Matters
- Preschool children are building the skills they will use to learn to read and write.
- Phonological awareness helps children notice and work with sounds in spoken language; connecting those sounds to letters helps prepare children for reading.
- Oral language and vocabulary also matter because children need language knowledge to understand what they read.
- Early support is especially important for children who begin school with weaker literacy skills.
What the Evidence Shows
- Explicit instruction works: Model the skill, practice it together, then give children opportunities to try independently.
- Build skills in sequence: Move from simpler activities such as rhyming and identifying sounds toward blending and separating individual sounds.
- Use scaffolds: Provide prompts, choices, repetition, and feedback, then gradually reduce support.
- Keep practice short and frequent: Aim for 10–20 minutes, 4–5 times per week.
- Connect sounds to letters and incorporate literacy into shared reading, conversation, storytelling, play, and early writing.
- Use multiple ways for children to learn—listen, look, say, move, touch, and write.
What to Watch For
- Children who have persistent difficulty identifying rhymes, beginning sounds, or individual sounds.
- Difficulty blending sounds together or separating words into individual sounds.
- Difficulty learning letter names and sounds or connecting letters with the sounds they represent.
- Limited participation in conversation or difficulty learning and using new vocabulary.
- Instruction that focuses heavily on worksheets or isolated skills without opportunities to use literacy in meaningful activities.
- Technology being used in place of teacher modeling, interaction, and feedback.
Tips by Student Group
- Multilingual learners: Provide abundant opportunities for conversation and listening. Use gestures, pictures, objects, and demonstrations to make new words and concepts clear.
- Students with disabilities: Break tasks into manageable steps, provide additional modeling and practice, and use visual and tactile supports.
- Students at risk for reading difficulties: Provide targeted instruction early, practice skills frequently, and monitor progress in sound awareness, letter knowledge, and oral language.
- All learners: Adjust prompts and support based on what each child needs, and gradually fade assistance as skills develop.
Classroom Takeaway
- Make it explicit.
- Keep it brief and frequent.
- Connect sounds to letters.
- Build literacy into reading, talking, playing, and writing.
- Use scaffolds and fade them as children become more independent.
Key Takeaway
High-quality preschool literacy instruction is less about following a particular program and more about what educators do: model clearly, provide guided practice, give feedback, and create frequent opportunities for children to apply their skills.
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.
