Describes a project that focused on identifying beginning first grade children with prereading deficits and which created a diagnostic-prescriptive program at the beginning of the first grade that changed potential failure in first grade into a true success story. (Author/DN)

Guidelines for parents involved in teaching their children to read are provided in this Australian early childhood resource booklet. Suggestions are offered for introducing words to children, talking to children, and reading to children. Material focused on the topic of learning to read at home is divided into two sections: (1) reading games, and…

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.…

Children discover many things about themselves, about the world around them, and about words and language, before they go to school. This booklet was prepared to guide parents in helping their children make such discoveries in preparation for the demands of learning in school. Activities are suggested for developing children's self-confidence,…

Reviewed are foreign and American studies on the relationship between school entrance age and reading readiness; and presented is the author's contention that children should be automatically admitted to kindergarten and first grade, with the school responsible for appropriate individualized instruction. (CL)

To aid in the early identification of potential learning disabled children, the predictive efficiency of three kindergarten measures (a reading readiness test, a reading achievement test, and a teacher rating scale) for 87 children was correlated with first grade achievement. (Author/CL)

Discusses the hothousing controversy in terms of demographics, consequences on emotional development, and clinical concerns. In addition, the increase in academics and "readiness" training at the preschool level and the influence of the academic community on the hothousing movement are considered. (PCB)

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)

Briefly lists the stages of early language development, compares normal with abnormal language development, and explores characteristics of language impaired school age children. Specific diagnosis and teaching examples are also provided. (TO)

Describes the elements and application of a teacher-made performance-based assessment tool for teachers of beginning readers or nonreaders. A sample performance assessment checklist is included. (HTH)

Described is a preschool science activity in which students use shell collections. This activity demonstrates how language development and reading readiness skills are interrelated with science. Prereading and reading activities are described involving the students in direct interaction with the shell collection. (DS)

Examines the factorial structure underlying different task types within the domain of phonological awareness. Tests, in study 1, 128 preschoolers without formal reading instruction, giving them tasks in rhyme recognition, syllable counting, initial phoneme matching and deletion, phoneme blending, and phoneme counting. Replicates structural…

To ascertain the prevalence of early school screening practices, the specific tests employed, and the use made of the test results, a survey was conducted of a representative sample of 980 school districts in the United States. (Author)

This paper describes the origins of a corporation producing computer software for children, lists criteria for software design, and describes work done with computer graphics for children. The corporation, called The Learning Company, had its origins in a project set up to create playful learning programs for children ages 3 to 13. The project was…