Early reading looked at from the perspectives of people with whom a school administrator works: parents, staff, researchers. Cites studies which document importance of parents as teachers. Believes staff should recognize importance of involving parents in early childhood education programs.

Two distinguishing characteristics of early readers are superior sound blending and visual memory skills. (RB)

Indicates that a relatively small percentage of the gifted preschool population actually starts to read before starting kindergarten. (Author)

In order to understand why some children are vulnerable to difficulties in their language development and their acquisition of reading skill, the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia followed 200 Finnish children from birth to school age. Half of these children had a family history of reading problems and were considered at risk for dyslexia;…

In contrast to a common set of roles or definitions, it is a common sense of mission that unifies practitioners in the field of early childhood education. Successful missions in time become transformed into organizational sagas that capture the allegiance and commitment of a group. Early childhood educators can increase their commitment to the…

Two case studies were conducted that both involved teaching three-year-olds to read. In Study A, one three-year-old child was provided reading training over 13 months, concomitant with a background program of speech, language, and intellectual stimulation. In Study B, four three-year-old children were provided reading training over 2 months. A…

This micromonograph describes reading readiness and offers suggestions for parents to help their children develop skills and abilities useful for reading. The six sections discuss the following topics: parents' roles and how children learn, toys which build reading readiness, the importance of encouraging children to talk and listen, ways in which…

The emphasis on reading in a Miami elementary school curriculum is having a good effect in lessening the amount of dropouts. (GB)

Documents the wide gap between current research on early literacy development and various guidelines and tools for assessing variations in preschool program quality, reviewing three position statements as to their changing treatment of literacy and comparing them to various guidelines, criteria, and tools for assessing the quality of early…

"Curiosity Corner" is a comprehensive early childhood curriculum designed to help children at risk of school failure because of poverty. The program offers children experiences that develop the attitudes, skills, and knowledge necessary for later school success with a special emphasis on children's language and literacy skills.…

A study examined the influence of preschool reading readiness skills instruction on first graders' reading achievement. The subjects were 52 first grade students who had attended preschool, and their parents. The parents received questionnaires containing 40 reading readiness questions and the children took the California Achievement Test (CAT) in…

This 34-item annotated bibliography was compiled to help professional educators decide whether reading should be taught in kindergarten and, if so, how the instruction should be conducted. The references include varying and even opposing points of view. The authors of the articles are teachers, administrators, professors, and researchers. (TO)

Discusses the use of a simplified diacritical marking system as a device for the teaching of reading to pre-school children. (TO)

Examines the metacognitive reading strategies of five children, four to six years of age, who were reading fluently prior to grade one. States that fluency was judged on whether the children could conduct meaningful reading with relative smoothness. Suggests that each of the children used a variety of metacognitive reading strategies and showed…

Picture books enable children to experience "reading" from a very early stage in their lives. Although readers in the early part of this century were trained to read heavy books full of fine print, nowadays readers are being trained to read using intellectually and emotionally challenging picture books. Such books (particularly those by…