Building Strong Foundations: Engaging
Families in the 5 Early Literacy Skills
Essential for Kindergarten Success
Dr. Samantha Fecich
and Ave Pushchak
Slippery Rock University
2025 KSLA Conference
Undergraduate
Roundtable

Why is it Important for Students to
Develop Early Literacy Skills Before
Entering Kindergarten?
Children’s emergent literacy skills are essential for the
development of later literacy abilities and school success (Puranik
et al., 2024).
In a study of 724 preschool aged children, language gains
predicted kindergarten readiness with an effect size of 0.24
standard deviations (Logan et al., 2024).

5 Foundational Early Literacy Skills
1. Phonological and Phonemic Awareness
Phonological awareness is the ability to hear, recognize, and play with the sounds in spoken language. Phonemic
awareness is the ability to hear, recognize, and play with the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.

2. Phonics and Decoding
Phonics is the understanding of letters of the alphabet and the sounds they make. Decoding is the process of
combining these sounds to sound out words.

3. Fluency
Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately, at a good pace, and with proper expression and comprehension.

4. Vocabulary
Vocabulary is the knowledge of the meaning and pronunciation of words.

5. Comprehension
Comprehension is the ability to read text, process it, and understand its meaning.
(Reading Rockets, 2025)

The Importance of Combining
Digital and Hands-On Learning for
Children
Young children need both digital and nondigital experiences to
develop the full range of emergent literacy skills (Dong & Newman,
2023).

Screentime Guidelines for
Little Learners
For children (2-5 years old) encourage
healthy habits and limit non-educational
screentime to about 1 hour per
weekday and 3 hours on the weekends
(American Academy of Child &
Adolescent Psychiatry [AACAP], 2025).

Productive Screentime vs.
Doomscrolling
High-quality content can
enhance social and language
skills for all children aged two
years and older, particularly for
those who are living in poverty
or facing other disadvantages
(Muppalla et al., 2023).

However, studies have shown
that excessive screen time and
media multitasking can
negatively affect executive
functioning, sensorimotor
development, and academic
outcomes (Muppalla et al.,
2023).

Example
Activity:
Syllable
Shopping

Hands-On Version of the Activity
Instructions:
While at the grocery store, have the child
pick up different fruits and vegetables.
The child can then say the words of the
names of the fruits and vegetables out
loud, holding up a finger for each of the
syllables.
Example: eggplant (egg-plant) and
pineapple (pine-ap-ple).
This turns the mundane task of grocery
shopping into a natural learning
opportunity.
(Reading Rockets, 2025)

Digital Version of
the Activity
Instructions:
Download the app Fruits and Vegetables
for Kids by Cleverbit on the child’s
device or on a parent’s device that the
child is using.
Open the app and click on the fruit or
vegetable option.
When the child clicks on the image of a
fruit or vegetable, the app says the name
of the food out loud.
The child can then count the number of
syllables in the word after listening to it.
This app is an interactive literacy activity
that children can do independently.

Conclusion
It is essential for students to have knowledge of
the 5 foundational early literacy skills before
entering kindergarten.
Proficiency in these skills predicts future academic
success.
It is important for students’ screentime to be
productive, interactive, and educational.
Syllable shopping is an activity that parents can do
with their children to teach phonological
awareness.
Please see the handout for more activities and
resources that parents can use to teach early
literacy skills to their young children.

Questions?

References
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry [AACAP]. (2025). Children and watching TV (Fact Sheet
No. 54). https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/ChildrenAnd_Watching-TV-054.aspx
Dong, C., & Newman, L. (2023). Digital play and emergent literacy in early childhood education: Balancing
innovation and tradition. Early Education and Development, 34(3), 457–475.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2022.2068823
Logan, J. A. R., Piasta, S. B., Purtell, K. M., Nichols, R., & Schachter, R. E. (2024). Early childhood language
gains, kindergarten readiness, and Grade 3 reading achievement. Child Development, 95(2), 609–624.
https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14019
Muppalla, S. K., Vuppalapati, S., Pulliahgaru, A., & Sreenivasulu, H. (2023). Effects of excessive screen time on
child development: An updated review and strategies for management. Cureus, 15(6), e40608.
https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.40608
Puranik, C., Valcárcel Jiménez, M., Yumus, M., Schiele, T., Mues, A., & Niklas, F. (2024). Preschool emergent
literacy skills as predictors of reading and spelling in Grade 2 and the role of migration background in Germany.
Reading and Writing. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-024-10518-7
Reading Rockets. (2025). Phonological and phonemic awareness: Activities for your kindergartener. Reading
Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/literacy-home/reading-101-guide-parents/yourkindergartener/phonological-and-phonemic-awareness
Reading Rockets. (2025). Reading 101 for Parents: Your Kindergartener.
https://www.readingrockets.org/literacy-home/reading-101-guide-parents/your-kindergarter

Thank you!