Emergent Literacy and Young Children |

Understanding child development and literacy development is essential knowledge for early childhood educators. We must understand the literacy components, such as phonological awareness, and how children develop literacy. This knowledge allows us to approach activities that will build children’s literacy skills every day.

What is Emergent Literacy?

Emerging literacy is the foundation of reading and writing. For young children, emerging literacy is embedded in language, communication, and environmental structures. Language and literacy skills are often combined to define emergent literacy.

The Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECKLC) defines emergent literacy as the behaviors of young children as they respond to reading, writing, and language (2024). In common words, emergent literacy is how children develop literacy and language association.

How Children Develop Literacy

Literacy is developed in 5 stages. Each stage is developmental. In other words, you can only reach the next stage once you complete the first. The five stages are:

Emergent Literacy (0-5 years of age)
Alphabetic Fluency (5-8 years of age)
Words and Patterns (7-9 years of age)
Intermediate Reading (9-15 years of age)
Advanced Reading (15 to adult)

In early childhood programs, we focus on emergent literacy. As we assist young children with building their literacy skills, we focus on seven competency skills which include:

Decoding: understanding the meaning of sounds and how they make words. Phonemic awareness is a huge part of this skill and is often interchanged with word decoding.

Fluency, which encompasses children’s ability to understand and comprehend words and their meanings, is essential to literacy development.

Vocabulary includes learning new words and associating them with objects or ideas. The process begins with letter identification and building an understanding of the letters’ meaning something when placed together.

Sentence structure and cohesion become important to how children build words and sentences. These skills are first seen through language and later in writing and reading.

Experience, reasoning, and background knowledge impact the construction of stories. Children can create stories based on their personal knowledge and experience. These stories can be made up, or related through something they are reading.

Working memory and attention is an executive function built as children grow in later early years. Executive function allows children to complete complex tasks such as matching and identifying parts of a book or story. As children continue to develop, they can build these skills and add on new skills in literacy and language development.

Supporting Early Literacy

We can support children in their early literacy by surrounding them with words and having regular interaction to build their language. This method is the best approach and should begin at birth and continue throughout their childhood.

Singing songs, narrating activities, reading regularly, allowing them to scribble and draw, making a storybook, and asking children to narrate the story are just a few ways we can support early literacy.

Experience Curriculum supports early literacy in all three curriculum programs from infant, toddler and preschool. The curriculum emphasizes books and activities that intentionally allow children to build the competency they need to be strong, lifelong readers.

Kathy Banks, EdD. Early Childhood Education

Kathy Banks, Professional Development Lead for brightwheel, has 36 years of early childhood education experience. She has held various positions, including teacher, director, multi-site director, Head Start director, CCR&R, and QRIS Director. She currently adjuncts at several colleges and universities and continues to support and inspire educators through training and practical strategies. Kathy has her Ed.D. in Early Childhood Education and is a nationally certified Family and Consumer Science Developmental Educator. Her experience and education make her a scholarly expert in child development and the realities and challenges of teaching and directing every day.

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