The connection between language and literacy is powerful. The HighScope Preschool Curriculum focuses on this connection by providing meaningful language and literacy experiences for children during every part of the daily routine. Since speaking listening, reading, and writing develop together, all these activities are promoted in HighScope early childhood programs.

Early literacy is often cited as the most important academic skill in school readiness because most school learning depends upon knowing how to read. HighScope teachers recognize that learning to read is highly dependent on children's language skills, particularly vocabulary. Put another way, understanding and using oral language (listening and speaking) is the first step in mastering printed language (reading and writing). 

During the past three decades, researchers have learned a great deal about how language and literacy develop in young children. Before the results of their research became known, reading instruction often began in first grade. However, as studies showed the connection between spoken and written language, literacy was no longer seen as something children were suddenly ready for at age six. Instead, we now know that literacy “emerges” gradually in the early years. Reading and writing begin with learning language and looking at books in infancy. The preschool years continue this process. 

The language and literacy component of the HighScope Preschool Curriculum is built on this current research,  particularly the studies showing the strong link between language and literacy development. This connection is reflected in HighScope's key developmental indicators (KDIs, formerly called key experiences) for this area, as well as its Growing Readers Early Literacy Curriculum (GRC), a set of small-group activities and other daily learning experiences. Our assessments of child progress in literacy — the Early Literacy Skills Assessment (ELSA) and the language and literacy component of the Preschool Child Observation Record (COR)  — are also based on the latest research.

Here are some of the "lessons learned" from language and literacy research that are applied every day in HighScope preschool programs:
 • Language and literacy are connected from infancy onward. Speaking, listening, reading, and writing develop concurrently (together) rather than sequentially (one after the other).
• The acquisition of language and literacy skills is social. It happens because young children want to interact and communicate with others.
• Literacy learning occurs during meaningful interactions, experiences, and activities.
• Children differ in how --- and how fast --- they learn. For example, some pick up the sounds of language (phonological awareness) easily while others need more time and formal lessons.
• Some language and literacy learning happens naturally during play and everyday experiences, and some depends on explicit instruction from observant and sensitive adults.
• Differences in children's home language and culture can affect literacy development. An effective program of instruction in the language used in the classroom, together with support for the language and culture of the home, allows for and values these differences. 

Four essential components of early literacy have been  emphasized by professional and government panels concerned about early literacy, in particular the National Reading Panel (2000) and National Early Literacy Panel (Strickland & Shanahan, 2004). These four components — comprehension, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and concepts about print — are also stressed in literacy experiences in HighScope early childhood classrooms. HighScope's Growing Readers Early Literacy Curriculum (GRC) contains sequenced activities organized around these components, which are defined below: 

• Comprehension is the process of deriving meaning from action, speech, and text by connecting what one is learning to what one already knows.
• Phonological awareness is recognizing the sounds that make up words.
• Alphabetic principle is the relationship between letters and sounds in oral and written language.
• Concepts about print is knowing how print is organized on the page and how it is used for reading and writing.

Early literacy strategies are discussed in depth in a range of HighScope publications and training activities. See the links on this page and the Early Literacy section of this Web site for more information on how HighScope can help you carry out effective research-based early literacy instruction in your early childhood program. 

References
Epstein, A. S. (2007). Essentials of active learning in preschool: Getting to Know the HighScope Curriculum. Ypsilanti, MI: HighScope Press.

HighScope Educational Research Foundation. (2005). Growing Readers Early Literacy Curriculum. Ypsilanti, MI: HighScope Press.

Hohmann, M., & Tangorra, J. (Eds.) (2007). Let's Talk Literacy: Practical Readings for Preschool Teachers. Ypsilanti, MI: HighScope Press. 

National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health. 

Ranweiler, L. R. (2004). Preschool readers and writers: Early literacy strategies for teachers. Ypsilanti, MI: HighScope Press.

Snow, C. E., Burns, S., & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. 

Strickland, D. S., & Shanahan, T. (2004). Laying the groundwork for literacy. Educational Leadership, 6 (6), 74–77.