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.…

Annotates a number of books that can help teachers demonstrate for young children the importance of reading. (FL)

Discusses a model of the reading process drawn from ideas used in foreign language instruction and resting on the distinction between reading acquisition and reading learning. Explains how the model can be applied in the classroom. (FL)

Describes ways that both parents and teachers can instill a love of reading in children. (FL)

Evaluates some of the 100 different teaching approaches to beginning reading and reading theory. (Author/RB)

Examines current research concerning various instructional approaches for introducing print related concepts to preschool children. Discusses the nature of preschool literacy skills in light of research findings. Concludes that a whole language approach enhances initial print concepts and develops analytical reading related skills. (MM)

Several multiple-probe-across-participants design studies were employed to evaluate the effectiveness of a supplemental tutoring intervention using "Read Well" (Sprick, Howard, and Fidanque, 1998-2000). In Year 1, we conducted two studies with 7 first-, second-, and third grade children (1 girl and 6 boys), who were classified as having…

Using a pretest-posttest comparison-group design, this 16-week study investigated the effects of 2 instructional approaches on the phonological awareness, alphabetic knowledge, and early reading of kindergarten children. The primary goal was to compare a form of contextualized instruction based on an adapted interactive writing program with a…

"Phonological Awareness Training plus Letter Knowledge Training" is a general practice aimed at enhancing young children's phonological awareness, print awareness, and early reading abilities. Phonological awareness, the ability to detect or manipulate the sounds in words independent of meaning, is a precursor to reading. Phonological…

A study compared the amount of time spent in reading at different grade levels between 1961 and 1985, specifically examining the differences in time allocation practices for formal reading and for other reading, and the ways in which these practices compare in different geographic regions during these years. The 1961 study obtained data from 1,224…

Reports how parents helped two youngsters overcome reading difficulties. Also presents some tentative but studied observations about parents helping their children learn to read or to read better. (TO)

A study investigated the top-down and bottom-up reading skill patterns of 34 kindergarten children who, as precocious readers, were reading at or above the third grade level. The children were administered the reading comprehension subtest of a standardized achievement test, five subtests on an intelligence measure, and a battery of reading skills…

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

Explains that if the ability to read in the fullest sense can be fostered from infancy in and out of school, children will grow to be the highly literate society of tomorrow. (DF)