For the training of academic skills, digital educational games with integrated adaptivity are promising. Adaptive games are considered superior to non-adaptive games, because they constantly assess children's performance, and accordingly adapt the difficulty of the tasks corresponding to the children's individual level. However, empirical evidence…

Reading acquisition is based on a set of preliteracy skills that lay the foundation for future reading abilities. Phonological awareness--the ability to identify and manipulate the sound units of oral language--has been reported to play a central role in reading acquisition. However, current evidence is mixed with respect to its universal…

Giving students a purpose and a passion for sharing their thinking through authentic learning experiences and giving them tools for writing through which they can risk new vocabulary, new language, and new thought is critical for the linguistic and cognitive development of students. Furthermore, students develop a deep understanding of content…

A study investigated what is done with reading in kindergarten, specifically: (1) what is done and for what amount of time to prepare kindergartners for reading and to teach them to read; (2) what accounts for what is or is not done; and (3) how differences in children's abilities affect what is or is not done. Forty-two kindergarten classes from…

Presents several activities for helping kindergarten and first grade students develop an understanding of the main idea concept. (MM)

A study examined whether reading aloud to kindergarten children on a regular basis would have an effect on their attention span. Subjects, 28 kindergarten students from a New Jersey school, were pretested and then assigned either to an experimental group or to a control group (14 in each group). The experimental sample received the treatment of…

The ability to analyze a word into its component sounds is prerequisite to a child's learning of letter-sound correspondences and therefore to his learning to read. As prereaders do not typically master the ability to analyze a work into its component sounds, techniques must be developed to teach them this skill. Most procedures which have been…

This paper reports on a study which was designed to teach language skills and concepts to kindergarten children who had entered school with serious language deficiencies. The study's objectives were to: (1) provide the opportunity for interaction between child and adult; (2) encourage the development of concepts through concrete experiences,…

Japanese society is faced with many problems in the areas of early childhood education and day care--problems which will not be easily solved in the near future. Lack of continuity between early childhood education programs and elementary school curricula, lack of parent involvement in school activities, ambiguity as to the purpose of preschool…

Compares the effects of DISTAR, Action Reading, and a cognitive development approach on the reading readiness and mathematical achievement of kindergarten children. Concludes that DISTAR was superior to the other programs on all variables. (FL)

Argues that an essential factor in becoming literate is young children's developing an understanding of the registers of written language. Examines the reading-like behavior of a prereading kindergartner. (AEW)

THE CHILD'S CAPACITY FOR SELF-ACTUATED INTELLECTUAL GROWTH AND THE POSSIBILITY OF SPEEDING UP INTELLECTUAL GROWTH THROUGH IMPROVED OPPORTUNITIES AND INCREASED STIMULATION WERE STUDIED. SIX EXPLORATORY STUDIES CARRIED OUT DURING THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF THIS PROJECT WERE REPORTED. THE THREE MAIN AREAS OF LEARNING WHICH WERE INVESTIGATED WITH THE IDEA…

To better understand the early stages of literacy, a study investigated how young children learn about the registers of the written story genre. Subjects, 47 kindergraten children, were individually read to and then asked to "pretend-read" one or two selected picture storybooks on three consecutive days; their readings were audiotaped…

The result of an international symposium conducted in Canada, this book contains articles by experts in the fields of anthropology, linguistics, psychology, sociology, and education on the subject of preschool children and literacy. The book is divided into three sections dealing with literacy and culture, learning to be literate, and literacy and…

This publication contains Arizona public schools' academic standards for kindergarten. The contents of this document include the following: (1) The Arts Standard 2006--Kindergarten; (2) Comprehensive Health Education/Physical Activity Standards 1997--Readiness (Kindergarten); (3) Foreign and Native Language Standards 1997--Readiness…