The major developmental skills necessary for emergent reading : a review of literature

The purpose of this paper is to examine important factors that influence early literacy development. Findings indicate, reading aloud to children helps them develop in four areas that are important to formal reading instruction: oral language, cognitive skills, concepts of print, and phonemic awareness. Development of these skills provides a strong foundation to support literacy development during the early school years. Early behaviors such as reading from picture books and writing with scribbles are examples of emergent literacy and are an important part of children\u27s literacy development. Finally, a rich literacy environment for children with developmentally appropriate literacy instruction will have a profound effect on children\u27s literacy development by providing opportunities and encouragement for children to become successful readers. While culture also plays an important role in the development of literacy, it is not the focus of this paper