Demonstrates the positive effects of instruction using environmental print to stimulate print awareness in preschool children. (FL)

Reports findings from a study that investigated preschool children's concepts about reading. Offers suggestions for adults who guide young children through their early experiences with print. (FL)

Examines the history of preschool reading instruction, what researchers recommend, and what is actually happening in preschools, then asks whether reading should be taught to young children. (FL)

Concludes that preschool children know that print conveys information, yet frequently use environmental cues rather than letter knowledge when they appear to read. (FL)

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

Reports on an enquiry into the responses of a class of Year 1 children, aged 5-6 years, to the first eight months of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS). Notes that the methodology enabled these young children to articulate detailed responses to their experience of a particular style of teaching. (SG)

This article focuses on practical classroom ideas for enhancing early literacy learning by teaching a broad range of metalinguistic skills. These skills include phonemic and word awareness, but focus largely on syntactic and pragmatic skills in order to give children a richer understanding of language and its functions. Theoretical background is…

Everything a persons needs to know in life is learned in Kindergarten is a popular adage among teachers. In this article, the author relates how everything she needed to know about teaching she learned from her own children. She relates that from the moment of their birth, she had determined that her four children would learn to read before they…

Evaluation studies seldom examine whether the rationales used to argue for an educational reform actually hold up when empirical evidence is examined after the reform has been implemented. This article examines survey data from 3 years of analyses of early reading interventions to examine three rationales that were used to argue for the program.…

Teaching ability, over and above reading programs, is the major contributor to students' literacy success. Culturally and linguistically diverse students are not receiving "a free and appropriate education" when teachers are not implementing instructional strategies that optimize student achievement or positively reinforcing their cultural…

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…

In order to help parents encourage their young children as they develop reading skills, this list suggests that parents give each child as many opportunities as possible for meaningful experiences; strive for good language facility--answering in complete sentences and using exact labels; discourage baby talk; don't discourage young children from…

Identifies cognitive characteristics and learning style preferences of gifted readers, and presents instructional guidelines for accommodating those preferences. (HTH)

Presents the ideas of three people highly visible in the field of reading, each of whom holds different views about reading and reading instruction, in an effort to help teachers clarify their own thoughts. (FL)

Reveals that traits associated with early readers from low socioeconomic backgrounds are similar to traits associated with early readers from higher socioeconomic levels. (FL)