Reviews research discussing early writing and invented spellings of young children as indicators of their readiness to learn to read and write. (MKM)

Concludes that potential users of the Clymer-Barrett Readiness Test should exercise caution in drawing inferences or conclusions about children on the basis of anything other than raw score data associated with the measure. (FL)

Reflects on the possible factors that enabled the author's child to learn to read at the age of five. (MKM)

This study investigated the developmental relationships between a battery of cognitive tasks--including Piagetian operations of conservation, classification, and seriation--and early reading achievement. Subjects were 128 kindergarten through third-grade students at a suburban elementary school. They were administered a battery of cognitive tests…

This study presents an account of position saliency in terms of children's ability to utilize graphic information, and in particular the serial encoding of information from letters in a graphic pattern. By varying the number and position of the letters distinguishing graphic patterns (positive condition) in a short-term recognition memory (STRM)…

Research shows that kindergarten children can and do learn to read, but many questions about early instruction remain unanswered. (MKM)

After a review of the research related to the feasibility of initiating reading instruction before first grade, kindergarten curriculum guides from l3 large cities were studied and analyzed. These analyses indicated a trend toward less postponement of reading instruction, though reading readiness still tended to be defined in terms of oral…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether boys read to by their fathers for the six-month period immediately preceding entrance into first grade would score significantly higher on predictor instruments for first-grade reading achievement when compared with boys read to by their mothers or boys in an unplanned situation for the same…

Relates the belief that "shared reading" using big books will provide children with a meaningful introductin to reading. (DF)

The first in a series reporting on strategies to improve children's readiness for school and to help schools be better prepared to meet the needs of all children, this report traces Arkansas' efforts to improve reading instruction. This issue discusses the following topics: (1) Reading in the First Grade: Now or Never? (2) Limitations and…

Organized into five sections, this book discusses how children learn to read and write and provides suggestions for parents on how they can nurture children's growth in these areas. Section 1, "How Children Learn To Read and Write," explains general principles that apply to all early age groups. This section discusses how oral and…

Suggests that remedial reading teachers deemphasize skill building in favor of reading aloud to children, replicating the experience of children raised in a book-reading family. (AEA)

This report provides research-based answers to questions about literacy development from infancy to age 6, with emphasis on the development of these skills in precocious readers. The question-answer format considers the importance of reading with young children, other activities to help young children learn to read, normal development of reading…

Stressing the importance of understanding child development, this paper first describes the writing of several children in a kindergarten class who represent various levels of emerging literacy. Based on the descriptions of classroom activities, the paper argues that with a developmental perspective the teacher can build instruction on what the…

This nontechnical guide for parents and teachers examines learning to read from infants' babbling to the fluent reading of children reading independently for pleasure. Chapter 1, "Baby Speaks," describes language development in infancy. Chapter 2, "Our Alphabet: Language by Ear and by Eye," presents the alphabetic system and…