Research suggests that children need to develop early and emerging literacy skills through the following methods:

	Oral language skill development
	Phonological awareness and phonics skills development
	Many and varied exposures and experiences with print
	Development of background knowledge

In addition to these key areas, essential characteristics of early childhood curricula are continuous student monitoring and assessment and the inclusion of critical areas of development. We Can! uses effective instructional practices of direct, systematic, and explicit and scaffolded instruction.

The We Can! Research Base provides a summary of the research findings on each component of early and emerging literacy and on the instructional practices that form the foundation of the We Can! Early Childhood Curriculum.

We Can! includes Letter Sounds & Strokes, a research-based phonics program designed to foster early language and literacy growth.