Part of social and emotional development is a child's emotional literacy. Numerous strategies exist for the development of children's emotional and social development, and for their emotional readiness for school. Teachers might arrange a classroom environment that is not overly structured or regimented. The environment should reflect who the children are, as well as their families and their communities. Teachers can provide activities that give children choices to play and to explore as they learn. Children's emotional readiness can be nurtured by engaging them in literacy-focused activities, including narrative storytelling, rhyming games, and songs in their home language that express their feelings and emotions and reflect their cultures. Teachers should model and provide situations that require sensitive and emotionally warm demonstrations. This modeling should be coupled with giving children responsive feedback and strategies for children to express themselves. In this article, the author describes proactive strategies that teachers can employ to help children grow a strong sense of self, recognize who they are in their world, and make sense of their own experiences and environment. Such strategies facilitate emotional literacy--the groundwork for early learning.