Discusses a reading project, Beginning With Books, designed to promote literacy among low-income preschool children and provide them with books. Describes the project's development and the procedure for operating the Gift Book Program. Lists 51 books suitable for a toddler book collection. (RJC)

Recognizing that preschool experience of hearing stories read aloud contributes significantly to children's subsequent success in learning to read at school, this paper explores the complex and powerful literacy learning that can develop from a certain style of whole class story reading to children whose home cultures would not otherwise give them…

This study compared literacy knowledge in preschoolers from low- and middle-class homes. Students and parents completed assessments and questionnaires about literacy activities. Results indicated that children from low-income homes were at a disadvantage in understanding written language. Literacy development also related to amount of early…

This 1-year study found that emergent literacy behaviors were developed in 14 children (ages 4-6) with disabilities who were exposed to daily structured literacy activities. Independent book interactions increased in complexity and sustained attention, and "writing" behaviors increased in complexity, variety, and structure. (Author/JDD)

Discusses the role and function of storybook reading in early childhood classrooms and reviews studies examining the effects of story reading on literacy development. Concludes that the interaction between child, adult, and text during story reading facilitates literacy development. (MM)

Studies beginning readers' response to phonological skills using specific computer programs. Observes three different training programs: training in blending separate letter sounds into words using computer programs; training in vocabulary also using computer programs; and training provided by teachers performing activities to promote phonological…

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…

Analysis of data from 96 children in a longitudinal study found that foundation skills in speech perception and language as well as family demographics and home environmental variables were related to and predicted later reading scores. Event related potential measures of speech perception immediately after birth also predicted reading scores,…

This article explores young children's facility in phonological awareness tasks requiring either the detection or the articulation of head, coda, onset, and rime subsyllabic units shared in word pairs. Data are reported from 70 nonreading children and 21 precocious readers attending preschools. Prereading children were able to articulate shared…

This research synthesis identifies areas of convergence in reading research regarding the importance, dimensions, and effects of phonological awareness on the reading acquisition process. It also highlights similarities and differences between normal achievers and diverse learners. The following five areas of research convergence are identified:…

Three high-achieving and three low-achieving 4-year-olds attending prekindergarten at a private elementary school in New Orleans, Louisiana were studied as they interacted with computers in dyads. Subject pairs were composed of one high- and one low-achiever and varied according to sex: boy/boy, boy/girl, and girl/girl. Qualitative methods of…

For the purpose of examining the relationship between preschool children's level of literacy development and the contextualization of story content to the children's world knowledge, a study was conducted investigating how parents of high and low print aware children contextualize stories for them in terms of their prior knowledge. The study…

Designed for preschool deaf/hearing impaired children whose developmental abilities range from 18 months through 5 years, this experiential curriculum uses a total communication approach in which language development is promoted in a natural setting. The guide is offered as a framework for teachers to use in developing their own individualized…

The reading development of six preschool children who learned to read at home without systematic instruction was studied in depth using the case study method. The main objective of the study was to ascertain (1) if there was an identifiable process by which these children learned to read and (2) the role of the parents in these children's early…

This paper summarizes research on learning styles, then examines the cognitive style of Native American primary school students. Five theories of cognitive style (Dunn and Dunn, Gregorc, Kagan, Witkin, and Cohen) are examined along with the test instruments these theories have fostered. A sixth concept of cognitive style, brain hemispheric…