This paper examines the relationship between beginning reading and cognitive development and reviews some of the research conducted so far. It is noted that children learning to read may be in various stages of cognitive development, some at a preoperation stage, some at a concrete operation stage, and some at a transition stage. Instructional…

A reading program developed to teach the minimum set of skills which enable children to recognize words as rapidly as possible through direct instruction in left-to-right orientation, blending, rhyming, and sounds is described. The materials for the program consist of teacher presentation notebooks used by the teachers in working with small groups…

A functional prediction scheme was sought for use in kindergarten which would have good predictive power for future reading achievement and be easy and quick to administer and score, inexpensive, and conducive to classroom use. A group of 21 kindergarten children was tested for reading readiness, intelligence, and psycholinguistic ability. Their…

This science-oriented reading readiness text is provided in three versions: English, Spanish and Navajo. It consists of large black-and-white drawings of birds, animals and insects familiar to the southwestern U.S. One picture is provided on each page, with the name of the animal printed in large type beneath the picture. The three booklets are…

An explanation of the child's mind and his language, stated in terms of the nature of the learner, is presented in this book. The authors ask teachers to think about the competence of the child and try to discover what he must know to be able to read. They ask teachers to examine the nature of the learner--what he knows that enables him to learn…

Reading achievement of disadvantaged pupils who were grouped for special instruction under the same teacher in grades 1 and 2 was compared to the reading achievement of disadvantaged pupils who were instructed according to regular classroom procedures in grades 1 and 2. Pupils in the experimental group (55) were matched with pupils in the control…

The question of whether children should be taught to read before first grade has long been discussed, but never settled. As the educational level of the people and the demands of industry increase, the rate of functional illiteracy also rises, provoking criticism of school programs and creating a need to find new ways of dealing with the problems.…

The research paradigm of Farley and Manske on individual differences in the orienting response (OR) defined by heart rate (HR) deceleration was extended to performance in reading readiness tasks. The OR was measured in 114 kindergarteners. Fifteen trials of pure tone stimulation (1000 cps, 61 db) followed by a 16th trial at 2000 cps and a…

Research indicates that the Wallach and Wallach tutorial reading program for low-readiness first graders which emphasizes phoneme identification skills is effective. (MKM)

Describes children's process of constructing their own knowledge by going through one level after another of being "wrong" and relates this process to reading. Describes six strategies children invent and discusses implications for teaching. (AS)

Suggests that the most beneficial early reading experiences are those that are informally presented and on topics of personal interest to children. Presents a sequence of activities using children's names that may be used to teach early reading and writing. (ARH)

Compares the ability of children at three different levels to use analogy in reading both real and nonsense words. Shows young children can successfully use analogy to decode new words. (HOD)

A study examined children's reading difficulties at the early grade levels and explored how federal and state governments are responding to this critical education problem. Sections of the study address: background issues in reading achievement; federal response to improve poor reading achievement; state issues in early reading achievement;…

Describes a tutorial method of individualized, programmed reading instruction that doesn't require and sophisticated materials for its implementation. (AN)