The importance of supporting children's reading engagement and reading comprehension from the early years is widely acknowledged, particular for children growing up in areas characterized by socioeconomic challenges. This mission is collectively shared by teachers and librarians, although with differing starting points and responsibilities. This…

Children's language development is a core task in Swedish preschool and central to how educators organize teaching and everyday activities. The curriculum's definition of language is described as extended, with language as both a prerequisite for learning and a learning effect, i.e. both internal processes and communication. This means that…

This study examined active Swedish preschool teachers' thoughts and perceptions in terms of read-alouds as a tool to support children's language and literacy development. The research question was 'How and for what purpose do preschool teachers say that they organize read-alouds in preschool?' Three focus group interviews were conducted with five…

Young children's engagements with digital technologies form part of their emergent everyday literacy practices. The study reported here derives from the pan-European study 'A Day in the Digital Lives of Children aged 0-3'. The methodology was centred on the videoing of an entire day's experiences of a child aged under 3, together with a reflective…

Education is in the process of transforming traditional print-based instruction into digital formats. This multi-case study sheds light on the challenge of coping with the old and new in literacy teaching in the context of technology-mediated instruction in the early years of schooling (7-8 years old children). By investigating the relation…

This article explores how the processes of writing and writers emerge and transform in two examples of Swedish early childhood educational writing practices. Students' writing is a multifaceted activity involving a myriad of interconnected elements; however, to make sense of what is going on, more knowledge is needed about the connectivity, the…

The present study originates in an interest in toddlers' spontaneous literacy activities and Swedish preschool practice. The curriculum for Swedish preschool (National Agency for Education, 2011b) clearly states that preschools should work on the basis of a holistic view of the child and that activities should be both enjoyable and based on…

The enquiries in this study were directed towards the reading of children's literature in preschool with the aim of describing and analysing how read-alouds were carried out in 39 preschools in the northern and southern parts of Sweden. How often were read-alouds performed? How long were they? How was literature chosen? Who initiated the…

The main purpose of this study was to examine the classroom, teacher and student factors distinguishing grade three classes performing at higher levels than expected, in relation to socioeconomic status (SES) and language factors, from classes performing below their potential with regard to the same factors. Data from a standardized reading…

The article describes and discusses the learning potential of unofficial techno-literacy activities in the classroom with regards to Swedish 7-8-year-olds' exploration of semiotic resources when interacting with computers. In classroom contexts where every child works with his or her own computer, such activities tend to take up a substantial…