Lecture given before the Annual Conference and Course on Reading (23d, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa., July 10-21, 1967).

Study results do not demonstrate that early reading is made possible by precocity in speech-sound segmentation, blending, or discrimination ability, but that the complex skill involving the manipulation of sounds in temporal order may be more closely related to early reading ability. (AEA)

Presents picture-based and listening-based lessons designed to enhance teachers' awareness of the processes that lead to comprehension and to provide a framework within which they may develop their own lessons for comprehension awareness. (FL)

Offers six suggestions for teaching reading, including forming reading clubs, using story folders, and devising a parent involvement program. (AEA)

Describes Cuba's preschool reading readiness program, which emphasizes phonemic analysis. (AEA)

The scores of 60 first graders on the Concepts about Print Test (Sand) indicated that above-average readers were superior to below-average readers in print-direction concepts, letter-word concepts, and advanced concepts about print. (Author/MKM)

The development of four-year-old children's knowledge of letters and printed words was studied to determine if preschool children begin reading, and if so, how. A natural hierarchy of knowledge was noted. (MKM)

Reports an investigation of the relationship between visual ordering and perception as determined by cognitive tasks and a child's understanding of reading readiness concepts. (FL)

Discusses a study designed to determine whether early reading instruction constitutes a positive factor in the cognitive development of children. The subjects for this study were 25 children in a nursery school in Macerata, Italy. (CFM)