The Parent and Children Together (PACT) project, developed by the Arkansas Valley and High Plain Regional Library Services in Colorado, is aimed at promoting lifelong interest in reading among today's children. PACT services include: (1) sponsoring workshops that will train librarians and volunteers to plan and present parents' programs; (2)…

Noting that parents have considerable influence on their children's learning during the process of general socialization, this paper reviews literature from primary and post primary schools about involving parents with their children's reading development. Following an introduction which summarizes the pertinent literature, the first section…

Intended for both parents and teachers, this handbook promotes reading aloud as a way to stimulate students' interest in reading and to improve their reading achievement. After an introduction and first chapter that stress the value of reading aloud, the book's second chapter explains when to begin reading aloud to children. The following three…

One way to help the solitary student shape his or her ideas in writing is to arrange for the high school writing teacher to practice Peter Elbow's "believing game." This can be accomplished through a conference in which teachers bring drafts of some piece of writing they would like to work on. The heart of the conference begins as the…

The literature review reported in this paper was conducted to increase an awareness of the positive effects that parents can have on their children's reading progress. The 36 annotations resulting from the review are organized under the following categories: (1) parental factors influencing reading development in children, including the effects of…

Even young children can be encouraged to write through the use of individual communication, group discussions, and activities that involve rhythms and music. Such activities create a classroom of children who feel comfortable and happy, who share a rapport with their peers and others throughout the school building, and who feel free to express…

The tradition of reading aloud to children has great intrinsic value and should be continued as part of the language arts program. Five major reasons for reading aloud to children can be gleaned from recent linguistic and psychological research and from folklore and intuition: (1) It allows the modeling of syntactic and phonemic language patterns,…

Provides examples of many innovative ways principals can establish a "reading climate" in their schools. Includes ways to involve parents, community members, school libraries, and teachers in reading enjoyment programs. Discusses some of the most successful techniques for teaching reading. (IW)

Presents findings from two studies, one concerning the home backgrounds of high volume and low volume readers, and the other a collection of case studies of three generations from several families examining how scholars are produced from relatively uneducated backgrounds. (JC)

Suggests that educators can help new readers develop the habit of reading by exposing them to easy-to-read, high-interest books, giving them time to practice reading, reading books aloud in class, and having students share their reactions to books with each other. (MM)

Develop second-language students' reading skills and their English fluency with a balanced approach that combines research with best practices. By assessing students' language and reading during read-alouds, shared reading, guided reading, independent reading, and literature circles, teachers will be able to plan for the most effective…

"Between the Lions" is a Public Broadcasting System program promoting literacy for children ages 4 through 7 years combining state-of-the-art puppetry, animation, live action, and music to achieve its mission of helping young children learn to read. This guide, in English- and Spanish-language versions, provides suggestions for parents…

This collection, with contributors from Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, addresses three important themes in the literacy learning of preschool children: children are active constructors of their own learning; families provide invaluable support in the early literacy learning of children; and preschool settings should reflect…

This report describes a program for improving reading abilities and attitudes for "at-risk" students. The targeted population consists of second and fourth grade classes in a low-income community. The problem of low parental involvement, lack of books in the home, low motivation, and lack of consistency among reading programs and teachers…

Cross-cultural studies of Asian and American children suggest that the superior performance of Asian children in school settings is related to cultural and educational differences beginning in the home. In an effort to understand why Japanese children make a smooth transition from home to school, this study examined the home language environment…