During a visit last year to the Brillante Early Learning Center at the Explora Science Center and Children’ s Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, I was treated to an exciting and empowering example of intentional literacy building through a unit of study that began with books about bugs. Children were engaged in building their bug vocabularies, creating stories with bug characters, making bug-themed art, and participating in a popular hands-on experience: Touching and observing living bugs. The program director recounted how the children enjoyed finding a roly-poly curled up in its container, carefully picking it up, and showing it to their peers.
To foster a love of literacy, teachers had infused their classrooms with print and illustrations of key ideas. These included a“ Bug Exploration” bulletin board that documented“ What we know about bugs!” and an“ Agreements” guide(“ I hold bugs gently; dig carefully”). Children talked about bugs from different places and imagined the voices they might use and the silly things bugs might say if they could talk to each other or to us. Their work was intentional, playful, and developmentally appropriate.
From book selection to supporting activities, these educators were working to ensure a strong foundation in early literacy for every child. As we welcome 2026 and launch a yearlong celebration of NAEYC’ s centennial, I am grateful for all of you who continue this important work every day.
Michelle Kang CEO, NAEYC
Photographs: courtesy of Michelle Kang and © NAEYC Copyright © 2026 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. See permissions and reprints online at NAEYC. org / resources / permissions.
Educating Young Children |
Vol 1 No 4 |
Winter 2026 |
NAEYC. org / EYC |
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