Helping young children become proficient readers is a critical goal. Research tells us that students who experience difficulty reading in the early years of school often struggle to catch up (Stanley, Petscher, & Catts, 2018; Ozernov, Palchik et al., 2016; Cunningham & Stanovich, 1997; Francis, Shaywitz, Stuebing, Shaywitz, & Fletcher,…

Research indicates that there are positive effects when young children read and explore books for pleasure, as such activities help build the skills and knowledge that are critical to schooling. Reading for pleasure is facilitated when children have access to books in their own homes. There are great variations in children's book ownership…

The present study investigated whether kindergarten teachers' causal attributions would predict children's reading-related task motivation and performance, or whether it is rather children's motivation and performance that contribute to teachers' causal attributions. To investigate this, 69 children (five to six years old at baseline) and their…

In the action research project report, the teacher researchers found that many kindergarten and first-grade students did not have the reading readiness skills to be reading at their benchmark target. The purpose of the project was to improve the students overall reading ability. The dates of the project began on September 8 through December 20,…

Since the 2003-04 school year, Save the Children, U.S. Programs, has supported programming designed to improve reading skills among struggling students in rural areas. The literacy program includes both afterschool and in-school interventions with small groups of children. These are implemented by well-trained paraprofessionals and are designed to…

This booklet introduces parents to techniques for helping their kindergarteners learn to read. Included is a story about how one mother and father encourage their sons to read, a sample reading activity, and a checklist for kindergarten reading skills.