This study uses latent transition analysis to examine reading development across the kindergarten and 1st-grade year. Data include poverty status and dichotomous measures of reading at 4 time points for a large sample of children within the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. In each of 4 waves of the study, 5 latent classes were represented in…

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…

Learning to read becomes a difficult task for many children, particularly if they have not been reared in early childhood settings where literacy-based activities, interactions, or materials are prevalent. This study examined the impact that providing a college-level course in research-based instructional strategies for literacy development to…

A 9-month naturalistic study of 16 preschoolers' classroom literacy behaviors and a related study of one student's literacy activities at home examined book-related dramatic play as an important part of the children's literacy interactions. Analyses of instances where play was related to the meanings of the books the children had read indicated…

The relationship of concrete operations to beginning reading was investigated with three samples of early readers and prereaders: prekindergarten and kindergarten children who were early readers and those who were not yet reading. Piagetian tasks on conservation of number, conservation of quantity, seriation, multiple classification, and class…

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…

TO TEST THE ASSUMPTION THAT THE READING PROCESS IS A NATURAL EMERGENCE OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT, A HYPOTHETICAL STRUCTURE WAS DEVISED TO RECAPITULATE THE PROCESS THAT IT IS ASSUMED THE CHILD GOES THROUGH. EACH OF 25 PRINTED WORD SYMBOLS WAS PRESENTED IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER--(1) A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE SYMBOL IN ITS NATURAL SETTING, (2) A DRAWING OF THE…

This document contains materials for games which are intended to give teachers and parents of young children ideas for making learning games which will provide experiences appropriate to their interests and abilities. While the games may be used by children in small groups, they were designed primarily for the child to explore alone. The games are…

The validity of introducing reading on the preschool level is the premise behind this study. The objective was to determine the effectiveness of the Categorical Sound System (CSS) developed by the author, as a highly structured linguistic-based readiness and beginning reading program, on kindergarten children from underprivileged and privileged…

Reading is a very complex psycholinguistic process consummate with writing, and reading instruction aspires to develop the critical reader, whose skills and abilities empower him to comprehend, enjoy, and assess both expository and imaginative writing. Using a rich background of learning and experience, the reader must handle many frames of…

There are many pros and cons to the recent trend of early reading. The opponents fear that too much emphasis on early reading may lead to a less rounded development of the child; they agree on providing the child with richer and more varied experiences to insure reading readiness. The advocates believe that today's children have already had more…

The purpose of this manual is to show teachers a variety of creative ways to capitalize on the high interest value of photographs for communication skills. The first section of this volume contains sketches to motivate deeper study of photojournalism: "Development of Photojournalism,""Time to Remember: Matthew B. Brady,""Dates in the History of…

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