Dalton's Language Arts Program in the First Program builds on the children's existing knowledge and rich linguistic experience and focuses on developing an increased competence in the use of the language arts: speaking and listening, reading and writing. Through careful assessment, literacy skills are developed and supported starting in the earliest grades. Children receive formal instruction on a daily basis from their House Advisors and reading specialists. Students are taught to develop strategies using both phonemic awareness and syntactic cues.

Students are also exposed to a variety of literary genres. The First Program’s reading program enriches students’ language and vocabulary development through read-aloud stories and animated literature discussions. Dalton believes that reading is not only a tool for learning that helps children to make sense of their world but also an excellent vehicle for opening up dialogues about diversity, ethics, and values in a personal and meaningful way.

Through exposure to a rich array of multicultural literary themes, values such as respect, sharing and giving, empathy, community, and harmony are systematically explored and integrated through the First Program's curriculum at all grade levels.

The First Program literacy program emphasizes the interconnectedness between reading and writing. Writing instruction, which takes place daily, is an expressive, meaningful activity for the children. Beginning in kindergarten, children are encouraged to put their own voices into print: their thoughts, ideas, illustrations, findings, and discoveries. Teachers work to create an environment of respectful "give and take" in order to nurture the developing potential of young writers while simultaneously introducing them to conventional spelling and grammar, through ongoing practice and review of these skills.

The children record their own stories, keep journals, write group poems, and do individual research. They learn how to edit, revise, and rewrite their own work. Students' own handmade books of their original stories and reports are carefully kept as part of the library collection.