Readiness to learn occurs when a child has achieved cumulative learning of component subskills and the developmental maturity necessary to integrate these subskills into the desired skill. Readiness is relative, however, not only to the skill, but also to the technique of instruction. Thus, readiness for learning a particular skill by different…

The Pre-School Kindergarten Readiness Inventory (PKRI) is a brief diagnostic instrument designed to be administered by the classroom teacher. It can be administered and scored in 10 to 12 minutes. The PKRI was developed to measure abilities and skills that are regarded as necessary for success in school. These include social awareness, motor…

One of a series of nine articles which review recent educational literature and offer hints to teachers, this paper examines children as potential adults. They bring to school with them all the diversity and advantages or disadvantages of their homes, families, and environments. From all these influences each child has developed a picture of…

This is the author's personal document in which he tries to simply see what learning is about. He draws heavily on Fritz Heider for his phenomenological analysis, by which he means an analysis of learning based solidly and integrally on what can be simply seen by all men. The paper distinguishes a learning process found in the developing child,…

One descriptive and one experimental section are presented on prerequisites for learning to read by school beginners. The descriptive part is intended to validate various hypotheses concerning the predictive value of different variables related to reading and spelling ability. By an analysis of multiple regression it is shown that the best…

Head Start preschoolers on a Papago reservation in Arizona were subjects of two studies of the effects of televised instruction and directed participation on teaching enumeration and conservation skills. Television instruction was most effective when used with active directed participation and corrective feedback. (Author/JEG)

Father-present and father-absent lower class Black kindergarteners were tested in school readiness, and two years later in academic achievement. Predictions of academic deficits due to early and continuing parental absence, as derived from Zajonc's and Markus's confluence model, were only partially supported. (Author/GDC)

Describes a successful home-based parent-training program implemented in the Tyrone, Pennsylvania school district in l979 which supports the concept of training parents to work with their preschoolers at home as an effective approach toward improving learning readiness and achieving parental involvement in the early education of children. (NH)

Young children think and learn differently, yet early childhood education is now subject to new pressures. Many believe that early exposure to technology accelerates mental development and improves sensory and mental capacity. There is no factual support for this idea. Children who grow up with technology are not necessarily more proficient with…

Examines the theoretical basis of suggestions that children's brain size and intelligence grow in periodic spurts and plateaus and that schooling should be planned accordingly. A "mock debate" presents excerpts from researchers holding conflicting viewpoints on this issue. (TE)

This document consists of the two 2000 issues of a semiannual newsletter that provides current information and research on leadership and administrative issues in early childhood education. The Fall 2000 issue discusses the use of research to promote sound policy and practice in early care and education, focusing on the implications of research in…

As part of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, this brochure (in English and Spanish) provides a guide to assist parents in helping their children become ready to read and to learn. The suggestions include: (1) talking to infants/toddlers to help them learn to speak and understand the meaning of words; (2)…

This report describes the progress that the 16 states in the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) region have made in meeting the first of the Goals for Education 2000: that all children will be ready for first grade. The report describes SREB states' efforts in: (1) increasing the percentage of at-risk children served by prekindergarten and…

Noting the importance of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) for teaching kindergarten students, this guide with accompanying videotape is designed to help kindergarten practitioners assess their classroom's level of readiness. The guide discusses the concept of kindergarten readiness as including the capacity of kindergarten classrooms and…