Literacy's Beginnings

Book excerpt: The third edition of Literacy's Beginnings: Supporting Young Readers and Writers offers an integrated, literature-based approach to reading and writing instruction keyed to the typical developmental stages through which most children pass. Its emphasis is on child-centered instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, comprehension, and interpretation. Numerous vignettes are presented, which describe young children's reading and writing from birth to age eight. Children's learning is examined in social settings, including home, preschool, and school. A thorough description of ways to organize an environment to stimulate the growth of language, both written and oral, makes the text an invaluable resource for prospective teachers of children from birth to age eight.