Reading Rockets offers a wealth of reading strategies, lessons, and activities designed to help young children learn how to read and read better. Our reading resources assist parents, teachers, and other educators in working with struggling readers who require additional help in reading fundamentals and comprehension skills development.

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For Teachers and Parents

Preschool

Young children are like sponges. Every day they learn skills that will help them become readers. Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, for example, become aware of books and print and learn about sounds and letters. Preschool educators play a critical role in promoting literacy, preventing reading difficulties, and preparing young children for kindergarten.

Watch our newest Launching Young Readers program, Toddling Toward Reading, and learn what quality preschool programs across the country look like — for parents, teachers, and kids. Hosted by Reba McEntire and featuring a visit with author Sandra Boynton!

Watch program

The following research-based information was collected especially for preschool teachers, Head Start teachers, teacher aides, and other staff, as well as for parents. The information reflects what we know about instructional and parenting practices that build a foundation for literacy in the formative years between infancy and five years of age.

PBS television programs

PBS Programming for Preschoolers

PBS broadcasts a number of children's programs that support early literacy development: Between the Lions, Sesame Street, Super WHY, Word World, and Martha Speaks. Teachers, parents and caregivers can find program-related lesson plans, read-along stories, games, and other activities at the PBS Kids Raising Readers website.

Launching Young Readers

Reading Rockets produces Launching Young Readers, an award-winning PBS series for parents, educators, and caregivers.

For teachers, teacher aides, and other staff

Professional Development Webcasts

The following webcasts for preschool teachers and staff are available on Reading Rockets:

Babbling to Books
A panel of early childhood experts discusses research-based strategies for developing language and pre-reading skills in young children.
Making Parents Partners
A roundtable of experts discusses the importance of getting parents involved in their child's school and academic development.

Early Literacy Development

Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic awareness is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds in words. We know that a student's skill in phonemic awareness is a good predictor of later reading success or difficulty.

Preschool and Childcare

Additional Information

To learn more, browse the articles in these sections on Reading Rockets:

For parents

Oral Language Development

Parent Reading Tips

Preschool and Childcare

Intervention and Advocacy

Additional Information

To learn more, browse the articles in these sections on Reading Rockets:

Reading and the brain

Detecting early reading problems

Get Ready to Read screening tool

Try this easy, 10-minute screening tool with the four-year-olds you know. It will tell you if they are on track for learning how to read. For more information about the Get Ready to Read (GRTR) program and screening tool, visit the GRTR website.

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.

Children's books

Recommended Books for Preschoolers

Each year, Reading Rockets gathers a list of the best preschool books for holiday gift giving as well as great books for summer reading. Many other favorite books are also included in this article: 75 Authors and Illustrators Everyone Should Know.

Finding Free or Low-Cost Books

Where can your school, library, or community group find free or low-cost books for kids? There are a number of national organizations and programs that can help!

Reading research

Federal reports on reading issues
Take a look at the major federal reports on child development and reading issues, including the National Reading Panel Report, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, and Neurons to Neighborhoods.
Understanding reading
Read selected research studies that investigate issues important to understanding reading, including the seminal book Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children.
Preschool
Browse the foundational research on early literacy and preschool, including Early Literacy: Policy and Practice in the Preschool Years.

Our partners

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is the professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 130,000 members and affiliates who are audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists.

National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) is the leading resource in family learning and literacy. Family literacy helps parents and children form a learning partnership that ends the cycle of poverty and low literacy. NCFL works to find solutions to the literacy crisis that build on the family to create a new cycle of ongoing learning and mutual support.

National Center for Learning Disabilities provides information to parents, professionals, and individuals with learning disabilities, promotes research and programs to foster effective learning, and advocates for policies to protect and strengthen educational rights and opportunities.

National Head Start Association is a private not-for-profit membership organization dedicated exclusively to meeting the needs of Head Start children and their families. Since 1965, Head Start has served low-income children and their families, and today more than a million children are enrolled in its early childhood programs.

Reach Out and Read is a national non-profit organization that promotes early literacy by giving new books to children and advice to parents about the importance of reading aloud in pediatric exam rooms across the nation.

Zero to Three is national nonprofit organization that support the healthy development and well-being of infants, toddlers and their families by informing, educating, and supporting adults who influence the lives of infants and toddlers.

Reading Rockets' sister websites

Additional resources are available from Reading Rockets' sister websites: LD OnLine, the leading website on learning disabilities for parents, teachers, and other professionals; and Colorín Colorado, a bilingual website for parents and teachers of English language learners.

Early identification (LD OnLine)
For educators (Colorín Colorado)
For families (Colorín Colorado)

"Finally, quality reading research information! As an RSP teacher specializing in reading and its research, my credential program came nowhere near preparing me for this important job the way Reading Rockets has!"
~ Ellen K.

Learn how to respond to a child who is discouraged with reading or school with our tool called 'Put Downs & Comebacks.' Read more.

Reading Rockets is a national multimedia project that offers research-based and best-practice information on teaching kids to read and helping those who struggle. It is an educational service of public television station WETA in Washington, D.C.

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© Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. Reading Rockets is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. Reading Rockets® is a registered trademark of WETA.

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