Strengthening early literacy practice across classrooms is a priority for many early childhood leaders. Supporting that work includes ensuring professional learning connects meaningfully to what educators do with children each day.
In early childhood settings, language and literacy develop through play, routines, conversation, and shared reading. These moments are frequent, fast-moving, and deeply contextual. Translating early literacy priorities into this environment is not about adding new tasks, but about understanding how existing interactions support learning.
Why Translation Into Practice Can Feel Challenging
Professional learning related to the Science of Reading often introduces shared concepts and principles. How those ideas show up in classrooms, however, depends on how educators recognize and apply them in the flow of daily interactions.
Educators make constant decisions about language, interaction, and response. When professional learning does not surface clear examples of how early literacy is supported in these moments, shared concepts can take different forms across classrooms.
What Helps Ground the Science of Reading in Classrooms
Early literacy development is supported through interactions: how adults talk with children, respond to ideas, guide book handling, and engage in shared reading across the day.
When educators can see real classroom examples, rehearse literacy-supporting interactions, and reflect on their own practice, early literacy work becomes more concrete. It integrates into teaching rather than sitting alongside it. For leaders, this shared understanding supports greater consistency across classrooms, even as educators bring different experiences to their work.
Where This Thinking Comes Together
This focus on interactions and everyday practice shaped Teachstone’s newest addition within the CLASS Connect subscription. The Science of Reading through Effective Interactions helps educators connect early literacy concepts to real classroom moments through examples and guided practice, and was added to CLASS Connect in January 2026.
As one participant shared:
“The course is helping me a lot to understand what literacy actually means in early childhood education.” – Pre-K Educator, Chicago, IL
This clarity reflects what many educators identify as a gap in traditional Science of Reading professional learning. The goal is to support leaders in advancing early literacy priorities while providing educators with tools that feel practical in real classrooms.
Want to see what early literacy looks like in practice?
Download free early literacy resources that highlight how everyday interactions support language and literacy development.
