An action research project described a program for improving prerequisite reading skills. The targeted population included students in a special education kindergarten and an at-risk first grade from declining urban schools located in a medium sized Midwestern city; and students in an at-risk prekindergarten program from a nearby middle class…

The Illinois Early Learning Project (IEL) is funded by the Illinois State Board of Education to provide information resources on early learning and training related to implementing the Illinois Early Learning Standards for parents and for early childhood personnel in all settings. The IEL tip sheets offer suggestions to parents and early childhood…

This study measured the English and Spanish language proficiency and phonological sensitivity skills of Hispanic children who attended Head Start. Its primary objective was to determine the relationship between language proficiency and phonological sensitivity in English and Spanish independently, and whether this relationship differed in English…

In view of the importance of literacy learning, this paper defines emergent literacy and explores how researchers and teachers define it in the 1990s. The paper also attempts to answer the following questions: (1) What is the best way to teach literacy to young children? (2) Is there a correct way to teach it? (3) What does the research say…

This theme issue focuses on literacy education and prereading activities for very young children who may be at risk for reading failure. It contains several papers, with the following titles and authors: "The Beginnings of Literacy" (Joan Brooks McLane and Gillian Dowley McNamee); "A Book Is a Child's Companion" (Jeree H. Pawl); "What's It Mean To…

The two complementary questions--"What does literature do to young readers?" and "Can literature be taught?"--are not easily answered. Youth should not employ literature as an exclusive guide to life since they will encounter numerous unrealistic situations. Instead, literature should entice them to deal vicariously with vivid, new experiences and…

Intended for literacy students who want to share the pleasure of reading with the children they love, this book describes 26 easy, inexpensive activities to expose children to reading. Each activity explains the type of activity, lists materials needed, and provides instructions or suggestions for extending the activity. A suggested book list…

Based on the premise that without a solid foundation of literacy knowledge and skill, children will have difficulty benefiting from first grade reading and writing instruction, this book for parents and teachers provides a comprehensive introduction to literacy development from infancy through preschool. The book emphasizes age-appropriate…

Interviews 40 British parents and their children's nursery school teachers, concerning parental involvement in children's preschool reading and writing. Reveals parents frequently assist and direct their children in language arts activities but do not feel confident and teachers expressed doubts about parental interest. Shows need for greater…

Addresses two questions concerning whole language teaching to young children: (1) What is whole language? (2) What experiences are appropriate for whole language teaching? (BB)

This booklet offers 101 tips on ways parents and other adults can become more involved in children's education. Suggestions are provided in 13 sections: (1) Learning Begins at Home; (2) Using the Newspaper for Better Learning; (3) Make Family Time = Learning Time; (4) Starting School Ready to Learn; (5) Building Self-Esteem; (6) Improving Academic…

A descriptive study examined the relationships between what young children learned about written language in the home and their parents' levels of literacy ability and their uses of print in their lives. Twenty-four children, aged 4-6, in 20 families of low socioeconomic status were observed during their waking hours in their homes and communities…

Focusing on the relationship between learning oral language and learning about written language, this book discusses the emergent literacy (EL) of children growing up in a Western, print-oriented society, as well as findings of research conducted during the past 15 years on how children make sense of the way in which literacy works in their…

Focusing on family interaction, this book discusses a study designed to develop systematic ways of looking at reading and writing as activities that have consequences in and are affected by family life. Topics of the seven chapters are as follows: the six families involved in the research, conservation and change in the transmission of family…

This report gives a history of the 1979-80 segment of a continuing project that is designed to provide a theoretically based description of children's transition from prereading to reading, along with tools that teachers may use to assess children's emerging literacy abilities. The first chapter provides an introduction to the project, while the…