ABSTRACT
This chapter considers children's thought and their acquisition of literacy in a conceptual framework that emphasizes the process of development and how cognitive skills get built up and changed. In concentrating on how children represent and use the real world knowledge acquired during early interaction at home, the authors sought to explain why the ubiquitous concept of 'context' has so often been found to facilitate thinking and problem solving in young children. They recommend an approach to the study of cognitive development which is practical. It asks, for instance, why one task using relational information turns out to be more difficult than another and how a particular teaching procedure affects reading strategies. If it is the possession of scripts and strategies, personal involvement and self-awareness that differentiates children's thought processes then it is surely time to ask how these differences come about.
