To study the effect of nursery school attendance on reading readiness at the kindergarten level, a questionnaire was sent to the parents of 40 kindergarten students in order to determine which children had attended a nursery school program, when, and for how long. Scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills were then recorded for all respondents. The…

Suggests ways parents can help their children develop oral language facility and build positive attitudes toward the printed language so they will learn to read easily and happily when they get to school. (ED)

Presents the rationale, objectives, and procedures for parent involvement in the early education of handicapped children and suggests programs designed around the concept of parent involvement will expand in the future. (RB)

One preschool-age child's literacy-oriented, self-initiated games and play are described in this report. Some of the games used decontextualized print, some focused on contextualized written language, some were number games, and some involved letters and words. Commercially produced games were used in addition to games constructed at home; these…

After introductory remarks on the magnitude of changes that have taken place in early childhood education within the last 30 years, discussion focuses on early childhood research related to cognitive learning, social learning, and literacy. Social learning in kindergarten is discussed in terms of research findings on the effects of positive social…

The Building Blocks Model for promoting basic literacy in young children is a three-dimensional model comprised of building blocks, one for each step of the process of laying the foundations for literacy. Each of the small blocks within the large solid cube represents a unique ability that can be distinguished in terms of the three…

An experimental design with experimental and control groups was used to evaluate the effect of a diagnostic structured kindergarten program upon the predicted reading levels of low income area children. The effect was compared with the effect of the traditional kindergarten program. The effects of the two curricula upon the total group of children…

Reading is a process in which interactions between the surface and deep structures of the language bring about understanding.

Discusses the important role parents have in creating a positive reading environment. (MM)

Explores a preschooler's repeated attraction to two books, and what it means in terms of the child's literacy before she learns to read. Describes the child's advancing critical skills. (HTH)

Reviews several instruments frequently used in evaluating a pre-first grade child's readiness for learning to read with the focus on the extent to which published research has raised or resolved questions regarding the use of these instruments. (TO)

Discusses the contributions of Sesame Street'' to reading and reviews some of the literature concerned with junior college level reading programs. (MM)

Reports on a study that analyzed the oral language skills of four-year-old children in day care centers as they described a picture and told a story from pictures in a wordless picture book. (HOD)

This study examined the impact of environmental print over a 4-year period with 28 children (initially ages 3 and 4), all with severe to profound hearing losses. A four-phase environmental print task was administered annually for four years. Results are interpreted in terms of recognition and interpretation, constructing meaning from print, and…