Compelling evidence has shown that young children’ s alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness are significant prdeictors of their later proficiency in reading and writing.51 A decade ago their role-or even see it as appropriate-to launch young children on early steps toward lit-eracy, including familiarizing them with the world of print and the sounds of language. The early childhood profession now recognizes that gaining literacy foundations is an important facet of chil-dren’s experience before kindergarten,52 although the early literacy component still needs substantial improvement in many classrooms.