ABSTRACT
What are the limits and uses of reading and writing, and how do small children learn about these limits in preschools? How do children learn to attach meaning to signifiers and take meaning from signifiers when they first encounter reading and writing in institutional settings? If the learning of reading and writing are socially contested activities, with boundaries, prohibitions, and procedures set by different theories of reading and different sets of institutional practices, how do children learn about these limits in preschools? What kinds of readers and writers are they set up to become, with what sorts of likely consequences for their later learning?
