DO EARLY TALKERS BECOME EARLY READERS - LINGUISTIC PRECOCITY, PRESCHOOL LANGUAGE, AND EMERGENT LITERACY

Twenty-five children, selected for verbal precocity at 20 months of age, participated in a longitudinal study investigating predictors of later language and literacy skills. Although children remained verbally precocious, there was a low incidence of precocious reading. Exposure to instruction in letter names and sounds was a significant predictor of children's knowledge of print conventions, invented spelling, and phonological awareness at age 4 1/2. Frequency of story reading in the home and child engagement in a story reading episode at age 24 months were significant predictors of children's language ability at age 2 1/2 and 4 1/2 and knowledge of print conventions at age 4 1/2. It is concluded that story reading with parents as well as literacy instruction contributes to the development of emergent literacy in verbally precocious children.