Interviews 40 British parents and their children's nursery school teachers, concerning parental involvement in children's preschool reading and writing. Reveals parents frequently assist and direct their children in language arts activities but do not feel confident and teachers expressed doubts about parental interest. Shows need for greater…

Describes theoretical and practical problems facing the field of early reading, examining: readers and texts (reader processes, text difficulty, linguistic and cultural knowledge, and unique learners); home and school (home-school match, communities and reading, preschools as contexts for reading acquisition, and best practices); and policy and…

Teachers and teacher educators are faced with an urgent responsibility to support the learning of an increasingly diverse population of young children. Based on the sociocultural perspective of reading, a literature-based approach is outlined for early reading teachers. The implications of this approach to teacher education programs are further…

Noting that parents are their children's first teachers, this book presents activities to help parents prepare their children for school. The chapters are: (1) "Getting Started," which discusses chores, hobbies, television viewing, socialization, preschool, learning styles, supplies, work area, and motivation; (2) "Reading,"…

A descriptive study examined the relationships between what young children learned about written language in the home and their parents' levels of literacy ability and their uses of print in their lives. Twenty-four children, aged 4-6, in 20 families of low socioeconomic status were observed during their waking hours in their homes and communities…

Focusing on family interaction, this book discusses a study designed to develop systematic ways of looking at reading and writing as activities that have consequences in and are affected by family life. Topics of the seven chapters are as follows: the six families involved in the research, conservation and change in the transmission of family…

This report gives a history of the 1979-80 segment of a continuing project that is designed to provide a theoretically based description of children's transition from prereading to reading, along with tools that teachers may use to assess children's emerging literacy abilities. The first chapter provides an introduction to the project, while the…

THIS EXTENSIVE REPORT DESCRIBES THE CONTINUATION OF A PROJECT WHICH INVESTIGATED THE READING PROGRESS OF DISADVANTAGED URBAN NEGRO CHILDREN FROM FIRST THROUGH THIRD GRADE USING TWO BASIC TEACHING APPROACHES. THE PROJECT OPERATED IN TWELVE NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. SPECIFICALLY DESCRIBED ARE THE SECOND-GRADE CONTINUATION PROCEDURES,…

This program attempted to raise the reading levels of Mexican-American children (prekindergarten through grade three) through individualized instruction, self-instruction, curriculum change, parent participation, and cultural activities. It was assumed that children would become capable of self-regulating learning behavior only when they had…

Papers included are: (1) Presidential Address, (2) Challenges to Early Childhood Educators, (3) The Home Start Program in the U.S.A., (4) Early Childhood Training Programs, (5) Initiatives being Taken in Early Childhood Education Field by the Australian Government, (6) Audiovisual Materials for Parents' Discussion Groups, (7) The Role of the Adult…

Anyone who has worked as a teacher or principal in an elementary school understands the value of reliable and valid assessments of early reading progress. In order to implement an effective reading program, schools should have a coordinated plan for using screening, progress monitoring, diagnostics and outcome measures to guide instruction and to…

This book presents state-of-the-science research on the components of successful literacy learning and how to target them in contemporary classrooms. The volume builds on and extends the work of Steven Stahl, whose pioneering contributions encompassed the key areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, and assessment.…

Reading aloud to children is an important facet of the literate home environment and the best preparation for the establishment of preschool literacy skills. David was read to at every opportunity, and a diary was kept to observe, record, and study his emergent literacy events in the home. Since David often asked to have the same books read to…

The 33 articles published in this conference report represent the wide range of topics covered at the conference. Entries are organized under the following six headings: Comprehension: the reason for reading; the role of reading in personal development; language and cultural variables and reading; instructional programs and procedures; reading in…

The comprehension of a narrative passage by primary grade children as a function of both listening rate and the reading comprehension level was examined by this study. Ninety-six children divided into three groups according to reading level were used. The listening rate was controlled by means of a word compression ranging from zero (138 words per…