The beginning of literacy and numeracy development isembedded in the everyday communications, actions, thoughts
and drawings of babies, toddlers and young children. Parents and the home learning environment are critically important in the development of both. Research has also demonstrated the positive impact of attending early childhood settings on early
vocabulary development, literacy and numeracy skills (Barnett & Esposito Lamy, 2006). Therefore, those who work with very
young children have a unique opportunity to get it right from the start and to enhance children’s literacy and numeracy today,
as the above quote suggests, through rich learning opportunities. Drawing from French (2012) this paper responds to the questions: what do we mean by early literacy and numeracy, why they are
important, what research and theory have revealed in relation to these topics and what are the key concepts for early childhood educators to encourage in early childhood?