A review of reading research supports the notion that providing opportunities for children to develop rich experiences prior to beginning reading is essential. Further, there are definite links between these experiences and the development of cognitive structures that provide the basics for comprehension. (HOD)

Study identifies home literacy and literacy interest as two independent sources of literacy experience among 92 kindergarten prereaders. Together, they accounted for significant variance in oral vocabulary and on a letter-name and letter-sound measure of early written language. Discussion focuses on print exposure versus explicit print-sound…

After considering the advent of knowledge about prereading from a longitudinal perspective, this report then reviews the research on preschool children's attempts to read and offers a discussion of cross-sectional research on both prereading and beginning reading. The discussion is organized in terms of three hypothesized strands of prereading:…

Discusses several ways teachers can use picture books for teaching prereading and reading skills. Reviews several such books. (FL)

This article offers both a rationale and method for the implementation of a natural literacy program for preschool children with language disabilities. It reviews research on development of fundamental literacy skills and briefly describes extant approaches to facilitating literacy skills. Tenets of the natural literacy perspective are explained…

This paper summarizes research on the effects of television viewing on student achievement. Information concerning students in the San Juan Unified School District in California is highlighted. Studies have revealed that: (1) watching more than 3 hours of television a day prevents students from engaging in other activities; (2) moderate television…

The purpose of this manual is to present in a practical way the ideas from pre-elementary Right to Read programs that they may help to enrich and expand other early childhood education programs. Besides dealing with assessment, skill areas, and activities, the manual supplies other relevant information on the following topics: (1) dimensions of a…

As part of a series of publications reporting the promising practices gleaned from pre-elementary Right to Read programs, this manual is designed to provide pertinent information regarding young children and reading. It covers such topics as the skills necessary for reading acquisition, how children acquire these skills, and the importance of…

Argues that wordless books allow prereading children to create their own stories, enhance vocabulary acquisition, help children develop "top to bottom" and "right to left" concepts, and promote observation, sequential, visual, and inferential thinking. Describes several ways to use wordless books. Includes bibliography of 36…

Compares the stages of print awareness in two children to emphasize the developmental stages of literacy. Emphasizes the importance of parents and teachers responding appropriately as children develop their reading and writing skills. (HTH)

Discusses how Montessori principles and practices pertain specifically to the indirect and direct preparation of the child for writing and reading. The general principles are outlined first, followed by a specific discussion relating Montessori's approach to language instruction to current issues in reading disability. (CR)

Examines teaching rime analogy or letter recoding reading strategies to prereaders. Results reveal that experience with rime analogy increased letter recoding ability, but teaching in letter recoding did not enhance rime analogy. Children learned to read with a rime analogy or letter recoding reading strategy, and many developed new reading…

Jean Piaget's theory seems to lend support to reading specialists who believe that concrete operational thought constitutes a necessary and sufficient condition for learning to read. Preoperational children cannot deal with the complex relationships inherent in reading because they are tied perceptually to the immediate situation or…

As part of a series of publications reporting the promising practices gleaned from pre-elementary Right to Read Read programs, this manual is designed as an easy reference source through which parents can help their young children develop the skills necessary to read. While the manual is designed for use by parents, the activities discussed can…

Article reviews research focusing exclusively on the reading knowledge of preschool children who have not begun schooling and have not received formal reading instruction. The categories are (1) studies that document what preschool children learn about reading (informally at home or in preschool), and (2) studies that tell us how children learn…