All children deserve the best start in life and new scientific discoveries deepen our understanding of how to create the best environments for children. The team at I-LABS creates new and effective ways to bridge the gap between the science and the practice of learning by disseminating the latest science of child development. Our team shares the latest scientific discoveries in relevant and actionable ways with those who can best put it into practice: early learning professionals, parents, and policymakers. Partners use cutting-edge research to create evidence-based policies, practices, and programs that grow the next generation of lifelong learners.

This 20-minute Online module covers the following points:
-Spoken language skills serve as the foundation for literacy development. Literacy involves years of systematic instruction and practice.
-Children may enter kindergarten with a range of pre-literacy skills. It is important for teachers to provide a rich literacy environment for all children. Reading to and with children is a great way to boost pre-literacy skills.
-The brain is not born to read. With practice, our brains learn to recognize words, match words with sounds, and associate those words with meaning.
-Some people have more difficulty learning to read than others. But this does not mean that they won’t ever learn how or that they are less intelligent. Many different factors contribute to a child’s pre-literacy skills.