Children's development of literacy resources in kindergarten: A model

Abstract

This study proposed a model of kindergarten children's development of literacy resources during their kindergarten year. Throughout the school year, children in six kindergarten classrooms completed tasks similar to those typically used in their different classroom instructional programs. Factor analysis identified four factors for use in a path analysis. Language and Print Awareness directly influenced two factors: Simple Phonemic Awareness and Knowledge of the Alphabetic Principle. Simple Phonemic Awareness and Knowledge of the Alphabetic Principle in turn influenced the factor, Words‐Aural and Visual. Additionally, Simple Phonemic Awareness influenced Knowledge of the Alphabetic Principle. Various factors influenced outcome variables, represented by tasks similar to authentic reading and writing. Implications for classroom practice are suggested.