Doors to Discovery

Doors to Discovery is an early childhood curriculum that helps children in Pre-kindergarten develop their oral language skills, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and appreciation of books. The program emphasizes "shared literacy" as an effective learning practice, encouraging adults and children to work together to develop literacy-related skills. Within literacy-enriched learning centers, teachers use Doors to Discovery resource kits to present eight thematic units of literacy activities to children. Teachers are provided professional training on how to use Doors to Discovery material to help children develop their vocabulary and language skills. Beyond the classroom, family literacy activities are also included in the program to foster relationships between the school and home.

The Doors to Discovery curriculum builds a foundation for literacy by focusing on children's vocabulary and expressive and receptive language skills.

In the southwest United States, two studies were done in 33 preschool classrooms among 220 children ages three to five. The results show that the Doors to Discovery curriculum has potentially positive impacts on oral language and print knowledge compared to a control group.