In an effort to teach all children to read as early as possible, educators are failing to teach the basic prerequisites. A model identifies the basic prerequisites for the development of reading skills in young children and suggests a hierarchy of goal acquisitions. The prerequisites are: (1) language development and verbal meaning, (2) perceptual…

The kindergarten Learning to Learn Program was designed to help children acquire flexible strategies for dealing with challenges and problems. The pupils in both experimental and control groups were from a low income black neighborhood. The program was organized around a carefully planned sequence of language and mathematical games and game-like…

A scheme is presented for the development of perception and learning in which a hierarchy of skills begins with innate response systems and progresses through gross motor activities to more specialized motor systems represented by eye-hand coordination. The next stage of development, the control of ocular muscles, is discussed and the development…

Determination of the effectiveness of visual perceptual training upon word recognition and subsequent reading achievement of the culturally disadvantaged first grader was this study's goal. Forty-eight pupils in two sections of the first grade of an elementary school in Louisiana tested the hypotheses that no difference would be revealed in the…

Three studies assessing language comprehension of infants and toddlers through a method requiring a minimum of motor movement, no speech production, and differential visual fixation of two simultaneously presented video events provide insight into children's emerging linguistic capabilities and help resolve controversies about language production…

Developed to explore how individuals receive and process sensory information, this paper describes a curriculum designed for elementary students concerning the brain and information processing. The course is entitled "Mind Adventuring: Learning about How We Learn" and is structured into eight units of study. Descriptive accounts are…

Teachers of young children affect not only their ability to speak correctly but also the way they learn to think. Since children view the world in different ways depending on cultural heritage as well as individual perception, and since different experiences require differing ways of thinking and differing ways of expression, it is important for…

Suggested ways in which parents can prepare their children for academic success before formal schooling begins are listed in this guide. Part 1 contains ideas for language development in the areas of speaking, listening, vocabulary development, and recall. Part 2 contains suggestions for activities that will promote social development and…

Smith (1973), Stampe (1972), and Braine (1973) believe that by the time the child speaks his perception is well-developed, and that any discrepancy between child forms and adult forms are due to organizational and production difficulties. Other linguists believe immature perception determines the form of child speech. This paper suggests that…

This handbook contains 35 brief activity guides designed to be used by parents at home with their 4-year-old children in conjunction with the Saturday School Program. The aim of the Home Phase of the program is to provide learning experiences in two ways: (1) through Home Teaching Visits involving the Saturday School teacher, neighborhood children…

This paper reviews the evolution and implementation of the "Sesame Street" curriculum relating to the development of language and prereading skills. The first section gives a brief history of the Children's Television Workshop, describes the operational model followed by the Workshop in carrying out its initial experiment, and suggests…

These papers deal with four specific propositions concerning the role of measurement in early childhood education: 1. measurement should play an integral part in early education, independent of special pressures to evaluate program effects; 2. the measures should be designed or adapted specifically to the continuing needs of preprimary educators…

Evaluated was the use of the Azusa developmental scale with 16 deaf blind children in a completed study and 124 deaf blind children in an ongoing study to determine the scale's usefulness for objective evaluation of behavior change, instructional planning, and program evaluation. The children in the first study were rated on the performance…

The major goals of the Responsive Environment Program for Spanish American Children (REPSAC) are early intervention to prevent placement of Spanish American children in special education classes, provision of media and learning activities which enhance and develop a favorable self-concept and attitude toward his own and other cultural groups, and…

The main service of this project involves early identification of underdeveloped or abnormal behavior characteristics in the preschool-age child and the initiation of an educational treatment plan which ameliorate the developmental problem. Identification of disabled children is made by the two project diagnosticians in nursery schools and Head…