One approach to preparing kindergarten children for beginning reading combines a meaningful print environment with active student involvement in the learning process. The environment of the classroom from the beginning exposes children to meaningful printed words and symbols. Children use name tags not only for identification but also as a way for…

In the spring of 1971, an initial version of a program to teach selected prereading skills was tried out in three kindergartens. The three visual skills to be taught by the program were attending to letter order, letter orientation, and word detail. The sound skills to be taught were sound matching and sound blending. The program materials for…

This paper analyzes: (1) the task of learning to read, in the context of cognitive and linguistic tools a child has at his/her disposal; (2) how these tools change with further development and experience; and (3) how teachers can foster this development and growth. Eight research-based recommendations for classroom teaching are given. (PP)

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…

The comprehension of written stories starts with learning to comprehend everyday situations, but it is the child's direct experiences with written stories that bring the process to fruition. These direct experiences with stories are generally of two types. Initially there is a storybook time, the occasions upon which a literate person, usually the…

ONE OF THE PROBLEMS OF TEACHING READING TO CHILDREN WITH LOW MENTAL AGES, FOR EXAMPLE, OF FOUR TO FIVE, IS THAT MOST READING PROGRAMS ARE GEARED TO THE CHILDREN WITH A MENTAL AGE OF ABOUT SIX AND ONE-HALF. A CHILD WITH THIS HIGHER MENTAL DEVELOPMENT WILL OFTEN HAVE MANY OF THE BASIC READING SKILLS ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED, OR HE CAN LEARN THEM QUICKLY…