Comprehension in Preschool and Early Elementary Children: Skill Development and Strategy Interventions

The ability to read and comprehend is critical not only for lifelong learning but also for adequate functioning in society. Despite enormous efforts from researchers, educators, and policymakers to promote reading for all children, many children fail to reach functional levels of literacy (chap. 3, this volume; Paris and Stahl, 2005). Thus, it is critical to understand the nature of young children’s early developing language comprehension skills, how they differ from other language skills, and how one can stimulate the development of these skills so that children will be better prepared to excel in reading comprehension when they are formally learning how to read in school.