ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the early literacy policy and practice in Israeli preschool education and describes the early education structure. It refers to the major characteristics of Hebrew that affect early literacy development and its promotion, as well as the major characteristics of Hebrew that affect early literacy development and its promotion. The chapter provides an overview the history of literacy promotion in Israel and focus on the New National Early Literacy Curriculum and its implementation. It discusses future challenges in the arena of early literacy. According to the curriculum, the main expected early literacy competencies for children prior to entering school are as follows: alphabetic knowledge and early reading and writing, linguistic efficiency, and book immersion. The early literacy policy in Israel is based on major findings from international research and on local studies that focus on Hebrew characteristics and the specific ways to promote them.
