This report presents findings from a systematic review of international reviews and meta-analyses, as well as Chinese empirical studies, on parent-child reading. Existing systematic reviews and meta-analyses published in English largely concern Western contexts -- especially the US and the UK -- yet few studies have reviewed articles in global…

This document provides the following four tips for supporting reading skills for children ages K-3 at home: (1) Have conversations before, during, and after reading together; (2) Help children learn how to break sentences; (3) Help children sound out words smoothly; and (4) Model reading fluently by practicing reading out loud with your child.…

This document begins by providing four tips parents and care takers can use to supporting childrens' reading skills at home: (1) Have conversations before, during, and after reading together; (2) Help children learn how to break sentences into words and words into syllables; (3) Help children sound out words smoothly; and (4) Model reading…

Tess is a joyful eight-year old girl with epilepsy, frontal lobe dysfunction, and dyspraxia, as well as delays in language, fine motor, and gross motor skills. However, despite her disabilities, Tess happily embraces life. With assistance from a few support professionals, Tess currently functions successfully in a regular education second grade…

Evidence strongly suggests that shared book reading at home and in preschool is important for young children's development of the foundational skills required for the eventual mastery of decoding and comprehension. Yet the nuances of how learning from book reading might vary across these contexts and with children's skills are not well understood.…

Intended primarily for teachers and others who work with children from approximately three to eight years of age, this book suggests ways to make and introduce Big Book versions of well-loved predictable stories and describes how shared book experiences can lead to learning across the curriculum. The book presents teaching tips, book…

Noting that nonfiction literature for children is plentiful, this book presents 16 essays by educators who write about selecting and sharing the best in nonfiction with elementary and middle school students. The ideas in the book progress from trends in nonfiction, criteria for selection, and nonfiction in specific curricular areas to use in the…

This article provides an overview of the critical elements of emergent literacy, discusses specific strategies for using storybooks with preschoolers to facilitate language development and emergent literacy skills, and provides specific strategies for children learning English as a second language. Sample phonological awareness activities are also…

This article describes several techniques for structuring storybook reading interactions to best promote emergent literacy development for young children with disabilities. Techniques are presented for increasing the appeal and interactive nature of shared storybook reading and ways to promote children's awareness of naturally occurring literacy…

The National Early Literacy Panel (NELP) was appointed in 2002 and carried out its work under the auspices of the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL). NELP's primary goal was to identify interventions, parenting activities, and instructional practices that promote the development of children's early literacy skills. The National Institute…

The inclusion of talk, written language, and body language are critically important in primary classrooms. Although reading and writing may be regarded as cognitive activities, they are embedded in a social/cultural milieu, and the practice of mechanical decoding as a necessary precedent to real reading is not pedagogically sound. A whole class…

Given preschool children's characteristically short attention spans and unpredictable interests, teachers can encourage early reading most effectively and appropriately through the systemization of informal or incidental, rather than formal, learning. They can make learning to read relevant to traditional preschool activities in a number of ways.…

Bringing together the home, school, and community in the task of developing children's abilities to read and appreciate literature, this book presents annotations of over 400 books suitable for children ages two through seven. Titles annotated in the book represent classic and contemporary picture books, story books, and concept books, as well as…

A simple, but useful, handout given to mothers of young children can greatly increase the likelihood that they will present aspects of emergent literacy in their homes. The concept of emergent literacy states that all literacy learning begins in infancy and proceeds forward from that point, and that all of the literacy skills of oral language,…

This book describes a whole language program that has as its ultimate goal the creation of students who read competently, critically, and joyfully, far beyond the classroom door. The book urges teachers to move beyond the skills-based approach and to embrace a philosophy that begins with the heart--rather than the head--of the learner. The book…