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Birds-eye view of mother at home reading picture book to young child

Reading With Your Grandchildren

Reading with your grandchild is one of the most important activities you can do together. This article will give you some tips as to how to make the most of this special time.
Ready to Read

Ready to Read

Parents — you are your child’s most important teacher! Using a few of these ideas, you can help your child enter the classroom ready to read.

Elementary boy in yellow plaid shirt taking a test

Recognition and Response: An Early Intervening System for Young Children At-Risk for Learning Disabilities

Learn about an early intervening system being developed for young children, called Recognition and Response, designed to help parents and teachers respond to learning difficulties in young children who may be at risk for learning disabilities as early as possible, beginning at age 3 or 4, before they experience school failure and before they are referred for formal evaluation and possible placement in special education.

Repeated Interactive Read Alouds in Preschool and Kindergarten

Repeated Interactive Read Alouds in Preschool and Kindergarten

Research has demonstrated that the most effective read alouds are those where children are actively involved asking and answering questions and making predictions, rather than passively listening. This article describes in detail a technique for a three-step interactive read aloud using sophisticated storybooks.

Elementary teacher giving a student a high-five for encouragement

RTI Goes to Pre-K

Can teachers and parents of preschoolers identify learning problems early enough to prevent problems later in school? The Recognition & Response model helps adults know what to look for and how to help, so that later remediation and special education may not be necessary.

Six Games for Reading

Six Games for Reading

Playing games is a great way to provide additional practice with early reading skills. Here are six games parents or tutors can use to help young readers practice word recognition, spelling patterns, and letter-sound knowledge.

kindergarten teacher helping students make the sounds in words

Speech Sounds: Assessment Tip

Hearing the difference between similar sounding words such as grow and glow is easy for most children, but not for all children. Children who unable to hear these differences will be confused when these words appear in context, and their comprehension skills will suffer dramatically.

kindergarten teacher helping students make the sounds in words

Speech Sounds: Suggested Activities

Children must understand how speech sounds work to be ready for instruction in reading and writing. There are many activities that you can do with your students to help them increase their knowledge of speech sounds and their relationship to letters.

Spoken Language: Practical Ideas for Parents

Spoken Language: Practical Ideas for Parents

Preschoolers who are getting ready to read expand their knowledge of the building blocks of oral and written language, and their use and appreciation of language. Learn activities parents can use at home to support children’s growth in each of these areas.

woodcut style illustration of the national capitol building

Study: Full-Day Kindergarten Boosts Academic Performance

This article says that according to a new study, former full-day kindergartners were more than twice as likely as children without any kindergarten experiences – and 26 percent more likely than graduates of half-day programs – to have made it to 3rd and 4th grade without having repeated a grade. This study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association.
Birds-eye view of mother at home reading picture book to young child

Suggestions for Sharing Stories

This article from the National PTA features ideas on how to help your school age child improve their reading skills and tips on how to develop pre-reading skills in younger children.
Supporting Very Young Writers

Supporting Very Young Writers

Preschool-aged children love to write — and those early scribbles are an important step on the path to literacy. Here are some simple ways for parents and preschool teachers to support very young writers.

Mother and young daughter lying on blanket outside and talking

Talking and Listening: Practical Ideas for Parents

Preschoolers who are getting ready to read expand their knowledge of the building blocks of oral and written language, and their use and appreciation of language. Learn activities parents can use at home to support children’s growth in each of these areas.

Talking Counts!

Talking Counts!

Most words in a child’s vocabulary come from everyday encounters with language. Children pick up language from books, media, and conversations with the people in their lives. Here are some ways you can increase your child’s vocabulary and background knowledge, and strengthen the foundation for their reading success.

First grader at board reading 3-letter words for teacher

Teaching the Alphabetic Code: Phonics and Decoding

Early skills in alphabetics serve as strong predictors of reading success, while later deficits in alphabetics is the main source of reading difficulties. This article argues the importance of developing skills in alphabetics, including phonics and decoding.

First grader at board reading 3-letter words for teacher

The Alphabetic Principle

Children’s knowledge of letter names and shapes is a strong predictor of their success in learning to read. Knowing letter names is strongly related to children’s ability to remember the forms of written words and their ability to treat words as sequences of letters.

young red-headed boy outside writing in a notebook

The Basic Spelling Vocabulary List

This list was created to help teachers know which spelling words should be taught to kids in grades 1–5. The list contains 850 words that account for 80 percent of the words children use in their writing — the ones they need to be able to spell correctly.

two young children using laptops and headphones in class

The Digital Whiteboard: A Tool in Early Literacy Instruction

Learn the basics of how a digital whiteboard works and potential benefits of using the technology in early literacy instruction. Results of a research study in a first grade classroom reveal that digital whiteboards are effective as an organizational tool for lesson preparation and followup instruction; provide opportunities for scaffolded learning; and stimulate greater student engagement.

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