Describes several techniques that enable parents to prepare their preschool children for the actual process of learning how to read that they will encounter when they enter school. (FL)

This report chronicles the record of the Reading First program as a research-based approach to teaching children to read, from early successes as a strict program whose funding would be distributed to states and districts using reading curricula whose effectiveness had been validated by scientific study, to one of eased eligibility that permitted…

Critical lessons that share a transactional view of early literacy development are synthesized. A transactional view of reading and writing means that literacy as a meaning construction process, and that within a given literacy event, both the text and the reader are changed.

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)

Describes the use of 10 word picture books to enrich the language experience of young children and to motivate their reading. (HOD)

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…

Outlines how contemporary reading theorists conceptualize reading fluency, discussing why it is a good indicator of reading process efficiency. Suggests ways to foster development of reading fluency. Children must acquire the automatic word and phrase processing that enables fluent reading and lets them allocate cognitive capacity to…

Early reading instruction is important for all children, but especially for the disadvantaged, because the decision not to expose them to reading at an early age may result in an unrecoverable loss of intellectual potential. Reading readiness as an approach may exile children from literacy permanently because it is an abstract and alien process…

This paper suggests that by emphasizing word identification skills and oral reading and by using limited reading materials, teachers have neglected reading for meaning. Following a review of current instructional practices, the paper explains how understanding writing depends on the world experience, language knowledge, and processing strategies…

Parents are urged to provide a superior education for their preschool children by encouraging the development of the first language in the home and by teaching the young child to read in at least one of his languages before going to school. (PMJ)

Discusses an approach to early reading instruction that emphasizes "real" books and parental involvement. Contains a list of "dos" and "don'ts" for use by parents in helping their children read. (DF)

Early reading for deaf and hearing-impaired children using the natural reading method inspired by Doman is advocated. The Doman method is described. What educational research on deaf and hearing-impaired children says concerning the process of reading acquisition is discussed. (RM)

Details events from the experiences of two young children as they learned written language. Concludes that children need to have a say in why and what they are reading. (FL)

If, ideally, reading begins at home, with children listening eagerly to interesting stories, then this experience must be duplicated in the classroom for reluctant readers. Listening to good stories can motivate students to develop reading skills. Activities of the Reading Center (Auckland, New Zealand) are described. (PP)

Presents a summary of the deliberations of a primary school teacher concerning her use of an "apprenticeship approach" to beginning reading instruction. States that it is the teacher's role to use a child's pleasure in a book as a key to the development of reading skills. (RS)