The Kindergarten Home Learning Kit was developed to ameliorate the educational deficit of disadvantaged kindergarten children by providing toys and learning materials to work with in the home. Each of the eight sequential kits also contains an illustrated instructional letter to the parents. Two groups of 25 disadvantaged kindergarten children…

Children exposed to the Language Experience Approach are able to conceptualize that what they think about they can say; what they say can be written or dictated to the teacher; what has been written can be read; and that they can read what they have written, and what others have written for them to read. It is recommended that a child first begin…

The purpose of this study was to measure the gains that culturally different 4-year-old children made in reading readiness activities and the acquisition of a sight vocabulary when exposed to an extensive prekindergarten reading intervention program. The subjects of the study were selected initially from a group of volunteer families. The subjects…

This booklet provides suggestions for parents in helping their children to learn how to read. The first section provides 34 suggestions and activities for parents to use with preschool children, such as reciting nursery rhymes, reading aloud, respecting the child's mood, and playing listening games. The second section offers 25 suggestions and…

Universal trends and individual variations in the language development process of the child are described and their relationships to beginning reading instruction are discussed. Child language begins with single word utterances to name things or to express needs and feelings. With a two-word utterance, the child can describe relationships more…

The Pre-Kindergarten Component, part of the Language Development Component funded under Title I of the Elementary Secondary Education Act of 1965, served 677 four-year-olds in 21 Title I schools. The design of the component was based on the assumption that many pre-school disadvantaged pupils have underdeveloped potential in many areas necessary…

Readiness skills measured effects of no treatment, home based programs, formal preschool programs, and a combination of the latter two on 90 incoming kindergarteners. Conclusions indicate cooperative home/school bonds are important for improving preschool readiness skills and home based programs can provide important developmental experiences in…

Parents (N=239) of preschool children with either a speech-language impairment, different disability, or no disability completed a survey of home literacy experiences. Significantly different activities and interactions with print were available to the children with speech-language impairments. Results suggest these children are exposed to print…

Examines the differences between oral and written languages, including differences in register, style, and syntax. Asserts that reading aloud and giving instructions are two ways to focus on the connection between oral and written language and the processes of reading and writing. (MM)

At 30 months, children who were later considered dyslexic were deficient in length, sytactic complexity, and pronunciation of spoken language. At three years, children were deficit in receptive vocabulary and object-naming, and at five years, in phonemic awareness and letter-sound knowledge. These deficits were not found in normal reading children…

Notes the California's Reading Task Force's heavy emphasis on phonemic awareness (PA) evaluation and training. Argues that although evidence shows that phonemic awareness will emerge by simply reading, California's school libraries--ranked near last in the nation--would require a massive commitment to rise to the task. Argues (in an ironic tone)…

Books on audiotape or videotape can be used in schools to provide independent reading experiences to beginning readers with limited preschool exposure to print. In addition, enabling children to hear stories while they look at the book may provide another support for literacy development in children at risk for reading difficulty. The efficacy of…

Organized into five sections, this book discusses how children learn to read and write and provides suggestions for parents on how they can nurture children's growth in these areas. Section 1, "How Children Learn To Read and Write," explains general principles that apply to all early age groups. This section discusses how oral and…

A study established some characteristics of early readers and their homes and families, how they learned to read, and how their surroundings, and particularly the school, reacted. Approximately 300 Danish early readers and their families were interviewed and completed questionnaires. Results indicated that: (1) half the early readers had either a…