Children want to write. This desire to write has always been underestimated by the adults around them. Their early attempts to communicate in writing are viewed with amusement or ignored. Adults have underestimated children's urges to make marks on paper because of a lack of understanding of the writing process (Graves 1982). In recent years, however, young children's experimentation with writing has been seriously observed and studied in an effort to better understand the role of writing in language acquisition. Studies on the development of writing in pre-schoolers (Clay 1975, Ferreiro & Teberosky 1982), of one child's natural growth in language-spoken and written-within a supportive and responsive environment (Bissex 1980), and on the writing processes of young children (Graves 1980) have documented the similarities between oral language development and the later acquisition of written language. These studies focussed attention on the cognitive and social processes involved in learning to write. More importantly, these studies and others have served to point out how schools have not "connected" children's natural acquisition of literacy with formal literacy instruction (Dyson 1982). Young children from a literate society are constantly exposed to the symbols and products of their print-oriented surrounding. Street signs, store fronts, commercial food labels and fast-food restaurants are all part of these young children's environment. Billboards, newspapers, books, television also play an important part in a literate society. It is not surprising, then, that long before children enter school, they have begun to discover how print is organized and how it is used by the members of their society. These children try to make sense of the literate forms in their environment in much the same way they try to make sense of the rest of their environment. In responding to, interacting with, and organizing the written language in their daily world, they begin to understand: I) the significance of written language; 2) the oral labels used when referring to written language; 3) the purposes written language serve for different