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)

This report, Vol. II of three interpretive manuscripts, presents Information For The Teacher, a review of literature on preschool reading instruction, along with suggestions and materials for teaching preschool reading. A skills checklist is provided and the educational television program, Sesame Street, is evaluated, since the effectiveness of…

A survey of the current status of 25 reading readiness tests provides a summary of tests devised or updated over the last 10 years as reviewed in O.K. Buros "The Seventh Mental Measurements Yearbook" (1972), and a review of another six tests which have appeared since 1972. (IM)

Examples of the awareness of young children of printed information they have gained informally are used to demonstrate some of the important knowledge that children bring to beginning reading and writing. Teachers need to encourage exploratory reading and writing experiences. (Author/DB)

This paper examines the benefit of nursery rhymes in literacy acquisition. It begins by discussing the history and attribution of various rhymes and the linkage of nursery rhymes with Mother Goose. It then suggests literacy advantages of children who know nursery rhymes over children who do not, which include the abilities to: (1) learn the…

The Kindergarten Teacher Rating Scale is shown to be a valid predictor of first-grade reading achievement in a study of predictive validity and classification accuracy. The scale's success in explaining the variance in first-grade reading scores and correctly classifying students is compared to that of reading readiness tests. (Author/CM)

Available from: Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Child Study Cente, 1100 N.E. 13th Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73117. The author discusses the concept of developmental dyslexia and attributes the wide variation in estimates of prevalence to the use of conflicting definitions of the disorder. (IM)

Preschool and kindergarten teachers can help young learners meet early literacy standards without sacrificing developmentally appropriate practice. Several professional associations have described appropriate expectations for children of different age levels known as milestones, developmental accomplishments, and benchmarks. (MLH)

This "funbook" presents reading and writing activities to help children prepare for reading and writing. Activities introduce the alphabet, and assist children to print letters of the alphabet and engage in other readiness tasks. The margins of many of the pages present instructions for "reading partners." The booklet includes…

The importance of experience in the development of reading readiness skills acquisition is a well-documented, thoroughly reviewed topic in education literature today. Aside from the specific subject area of experience, there is very little current discussion on reading readiness skills and their relationship to standardized readiness classroom…

To investigate what and how a child was learning about reading, a case study was conducted of one preliterate child's retelling of a story. The 5-year-old child (Jamie) heard the story in its complete form on the first session and then retold it each week for 8 weeks. The adult listener answered her questions but did not help unless asked. The…

A total of 26 preschools and day care centers in Saint Leo, Florida indicated the extent to which they were involved in teaching prereading and reading skills, when a questionnaire listing 50 reading and related activities was sent to 54 local centers. Respondents were instructed to indicate whether they engaged in the listed activities…

Twenty-six articles and books, both pro and con kindergarten reading instruction, are selected to encourage objective consideration of the wisdom of early reading instruction, at least for some children. Research reports, descriptions of kindergarten programs, and studies of various aspects of readiness, ranging in date from 1937 through 1965, are…

The premise of this book is that most children are ready to learn to read at age four and that parents are capable of teaching their own children to read. Ways in which parents can and do aid in the development of a child's language are discussed. This development of oral language is very important to learning to read the language and is usually…