The Pre-K Years: Getting Ready to Read and Write

Parents, caregivers, and preschool staff play a critical role in preparing young children for school and life success. In addition to a warm and nurturing environment, the adults in children’s lives should also focus on the building blocks of reading and writing.

Creating literacy-rich environments

Nurturing early literacy skills in preschool-aged children gets them ready for kindergarten and learning to read. In this section, you’ll get the basics on helping preschoolers learn about language, letters, sounds, and how print works. It’s also important to read aloud with kids every day and provide opportunities for writing — beginning with simple marks on a page.

Educational Apps for Preschoolers

The American Academy of Pediatric (AAP) recommendations (opens in a new window) call for no screen time at all for children younger than 2 years old, except for video chatting. Kids ages 2 to 5 should not get more than an hour of screen time per day. Within these guidelines, you may want to introduce preschoolers to educational apps that can help build alphabet knowledge and early understanding of sound–letter connections (phonics). Browse our Apps for Literacy and Learning.