"Lollipop Logic" employs visual and pictorial clues to introduce and reinforce high-powered thinking for pre-readers. Seven different thinking skills--sequences, relationships, analogies, deduction, pattern decoding, inference, and critical analysis--are presented in a format designed to appeal to gifted young learners. This…

This study examines how pre-readers' comprehension of story read-alouds is affected when story goal structure deviates from the canonical event. Forty children (30-59 months) were read stories in which there was either a match or mismatch between story and event goal structure. Children's content comprehension scores for the matched story (M =…

Reading comprehension--the ability to understand the meaning of text--is a foundational ability that enables children to learn in school and throughout life. Children who struggle with reading comprehension in the third or fourth grade are at high risk for dropping out of school, with detrimental effects on their future employment, income, and…

The development of early literacy skills is critical to children's later success in reading and reading-related activities; therefore, understanding how teachers can support early literacy development is equally important. In this article, the authors provide information on how early childhood teachers can use specific strategies and techniques as…

This study examined the effects of a parent-led intervention focused on developing children's early literacy skills within the home setting. The lesson plans contain scripted steps for completing activities to teach letter names and phonological awareness skills. Archival data were analyzed from a study conducted with 26 families from three…

Provides complete listing of an Applesoft arcade-style game which teaches rapid recognition, discrimination, and sequencing of the alphabet. Four levels of play are featured for sequential reinforcement of these skills. The game also trains left-to-right scanning, promotes development of visual-motor integration skills, and develops directionality…

BUILDING EFFECTIVE COMPREHENSION SKILLS IS DISCUSSED. FACTORS RELATED TO COMPREHENSION ARE PHYSICAL HEALTH, MENTAL DEVELOPMENT, EXPERIMENTIAL BACKGROUND, WORD RECOGNITION, AND THE PURPOSES OF THE READER. COMPREHENSION SKILLS CAN BE GROUPED INTO THESE AREAS -- READING FOR DETAILS, READING FOR MAIN IDEAS, READING TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN FACT AND…

Parents may better prepare their children to enter school by making sure that daily activities and household routines serve educational ends: learning scientific concepts through helping in the kitchen; being encouraged to read by having access to a variety of books. Specific activities are described. (JL)

Kindergarten children who were taught in a structured, sequential program achieved significantly more than kindergarten children taught the regular curriculum. (WY)

Provides a model of the domains of preliteracy development that contains four components: an orthographic, phonological, meaning, and context processor. The relationship of subskills to prereading activities and later reading is discussed. Developmental progressions for various preliteracy skills are identified, and methods of assessing…

Argues that concepts of literacy develop gradually and that in a natural language environment, saturated with good stories, meaningful conversation, and abundant writing materials, the process can begin even before a child goes to school. (FL)

This study examined the feasibility of teaching phonemic manipulation skills (auditory rhyming, blending, or segmenting) to preschool children with disabilities. Forty-seven children, 4-6 years old, enrolled in a special education preschool, were randomly assigned to receive training in one of three categories of phonemic manipulation tasks…