Don young children naturally develop the skills they need for school success?
Children are able to learn a great deal by simply exploring their environment independently and by interacting with people, given that some knowledge is naturally discoverable. Some knowledge, as well as many skills, however, are not naturally discoverable through independent exploration or through typical interactions with others, and these skills must be explicitly taught. Scientifically based reading research has identified specific skills that young children need in order to build a foundation for reading success. In high-quality pre-kindergarten programs, you should see children doing the following: • Learning the letters of the alphabet. • Learning to hear the individual sounds in words. Children need to learn to break words apart into their separate sounds (segmenting) and put sounds together to make words (blending). • Learning new words and how to use them. • Learning early writing skills. • Learning to use language by asking and answering questions, and by participating in di
