FTCE Subject Area Practice Test 2026 – Comprehensive Prep Guide

A kindergartner's lack of understanding that printed text is read from left to right is indicative of the Emergent Literacy Stage. This stage is characterized by the earliest experiences with reading and writing. Children in this stage are developing foundational concepts about print, but their understanding is still limited. They may scrunch up text, ignore directionality, or exhibit various misconceptions about how text works.

The Emergent Literacy Stage includes play-based activities that help children explore letters, sounds, and the organization of text, but they have not yet fully internalized the concepts of print, which includes the left-to-right progression of reading. This understanding develops further as children progress through the stages of literacy, eventually leading to more fluent reading skills.