ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of early academic skills with an emphasis on pre-reading and early math skills. It discusses research on the connections between self-regulation and early academic skills and share specific ways that self-regulation can be embedded into activities promoting academic success. In preschool, numerous aspects of self-regulation, such as being able to focus, pay attention, and remember and follow directions, have been shown to help children benefit from early learning activities. The preschool years are an important period for the development of pre-reading and emergent literacy skills. In preschool, there are three components of emergent literacy that form the foundation for reading skills. These components can be tied to standards, such as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and include oral language, phonological awareness, and print knowledge. Like reading skills, the development of mathematical skills emerges during early childhood, long before formal schooling starts.
