This study examined the effects of receiving multiple intervention services on the language, literacy, and general development of preschool children from low-income families. By employing a hierarchical linear model on a sample of 1436 children, developmental outcomes of four-year-old children receiving varying numbers of intervention services…

The purpose of this study was to increase the formation of the pre-handwriting skill of imitating lines and circles with two 2-year-old preschool students using a hand-over-hand prompting procedure. Both students attended a preschool special education classroom in a rural school district. During baseline, line and circle imitation for both…

The purpose of this work is to analyze the name writing and writing readiness levels of preschoolers in terms of various variables and to identify the relationship between children's name writing skill and writing readiness levels. To that end, name-writing and writing-readiness skills of 204 preschoolers at the ages of 3, 4 and 5 were examined…

During a 15-year longitudinal study, 31 Finnish students (risk group) who had been identified as having deficiencies in reading and writing readiness at pre-school through the German Breuer-Weuffen Differentiation Test were compared with their peers (n = 62) in order to study long-term differences that emerged at the starting point of the study.…

Recounts an incident illustrating a child's development of communication skills and offers suggestions for parents to help facilitate that development. (HTH)

A week-long exploratory observational case study of two white middle class girls (4 years, 9 months of age) investigated how children incorporate reading and writing literacy skills and knowledge of literacy artifacts into their play activities. Also examined was the role these play activities have in the development of literacy. Data were…

This study of the influence of social context on children's learning investigated the functions of literacy-based verbal exchanges of 37 preschoolers in a print-enriched play environment. Play settings in two preschool classrooms were enriched with print materials and literacy-related props. Four play settings were created: post office, library,…

This book concerns the growth of a single child, as reported by her mother, from her first encounters with books and print to the beginnings of independent reading and writing. The study took place mainly between the child's third and fourth birthdays, during which period weekly tape recordings were made of story-reading sessions with one or both…

Analyzes the composing processes of three children, aged two to four, as they composed with a responsible adult in a group setting. (HOD)

The representational abilities of 24 preschool children were investigated in relation to their ability to use their knowledge of graphic notation. Although the children came from similar backgrounds, their responses showed varying constructs about the appropriate graphic notation to use in referential tasks. (SLD)

Examined 13 preschool classes to determine whether the voluntary literacy behavior of children could be increased by means of teacher-guided introduction of reading and writing materials into dramatic play areas. Thematic play with teacher guidance and literacy materials yielded significantly increased literacy behavior. (SH)

Discusses the importance of preschool literacy training. (FL)

This study demonstrates that symbolic play has merit as a curricular tool for early literacy development. Naturalistic observation of four prekindergarten teachers and their classes revealed ways in which teachers can facilitate early literacy development by functioning as participants within the context of young children's spontaneous symbolic…

This report details a year-long study of the emerging literacy of preschoolers and kindergarteners in two southwest Florida communities. Using a quasi-experimental design, investigation focused on two preschools and two kindergarten classes that implemented certain strategies associated with a whole language philosophy, including daily shared…

Effects of environmental enhancements on the participation of 21 preschoolers at a prewriting table during free-choice activities were examined during one school year. A reversal experimental design compared three cumulatively richer enhancements. Enhancements were: (1) two skill levels of materials; (2) two skill levels of materials with "prompts…