Through observation and interaction with students in Head Start, it is evident that many children are entering into Kindergarten classrooms without the necessary prerequisite skills for the acquisition of emergent literacy. The purpose of this study is to enhance the emergent literacy development of Head Start students by providing explicit literacy instruction in phonemic awareness and alphabet knowledge.
1. How will intensive literacy instruction affect the emergent literacy development of Head Start students?
2. Will students receiving traditional instruction outscore students receiving intensive literacy instruction?
3. To what extent does parental involvement affect a child’s emergent literacy development?
The corresponding analysis and discussions have been integrated with the