ABSTRACT
Preschool literacy beliefs by their very nature are likely to have a longterm impact on children’s reading habits. Literacy development (in contrast to learning to read) is not a sequential process, and neither is it a discrete event providing a transitory learning stage which transforms the pre-literate toddler into a literate schoolchild. The process of education in its broadest sense is founded on the continual development of literacy, and this in turn influences attitudes towards information and reading habits. For many areas of educational development the important question is not whether children are able to read, but whether they actually do read. Beliefs which develop in the preschool years may have implications for literacy development in this very broad sense, and for this reason be very pertinent to the management of children’s reading experiences in the primary school. We know comparatively little about preschool children’s beliefs about reading. Before they go to school, many children think they can read-such a belief being based on their incomplete understanding of what reading actually is. Although objectively incorrect, this belief will have quite an impact on children’s subjective experiences of reading and learning to read, and is therefore of interest.
