Five mothers of preschool children with mild language delays were taught strategies to encourage children to verbally participate during story-reading sessions. Mothers increased use of praise and expansions concurrent with the introduction of training on each strategy and children showed increases in the number and length of conversations.…

Examines the effects of exposures to children's literature through reading aloud and an inferencing strategy on low-reading-ability fifth-grade readers' sense of story structure and reading comprehension. Uses an experimental/control group repeated measures design. Finds that this study is consistent with other research that indicates the…

The most important activity for encouraging reading success is reading aloud, particularly during the preschool years. Presents information on: the benefits of reading aloud, making reading aloud enjoyable, what to do if a child resists, when to stop reading aloud, what to do if a child wants to look ahead in the book, and what comes after picture…

The introduction of historical and philosophical readings to outdoor education settings serves many purposes: inspiration to share personal stories, a sense of continued tradition, links across time to current practices, a way to frame complex notions of being, and opportunities for new understandings of outdoor experiences and clarification of…

Researchers have identified four types of at-home parental engagement consistently associated with school performance: actively organizing and monitoring children's time, helping with homework, discussing school matters with children, and promoting reading activities. Research has not consistently linked parents' in-school engagement and student…

Describes a research project investigating whether at-risk kindergarten children's emergent literacy would improve if their parents were instructed on the importance of reading aloud to their kindergarten children and given books to read aloud to them on a daily basis. Notes limitations. Finds no significant differences on emergent literacy tests…

Offers a list of more than 50 books, in picture book and board book format, that are best suited to the developmental needs and interests of infants and preschool children. Books are listed under the following headings: identification of objects, rhythm and rhyme, pattern and repetition, and contrast and opposition. (AEF)

Reviews the benefits of early exposure to books for infants and toddlers. Benefits include language and vocabulary development and creation of an emotional connection to books and reading. Offers suggestions on reading to infants and toddlers, advice on selecting appropriate books, and tips for making simple homemade books. (TJQ)

Discusses the benefits of reading informational books with young readers. Topics include how to choose books that will interest young readers; books for reading aloud or reading alone; and collaborative reading, which connects an informational book to a recent experience, or connects a fiction book with a book of information. (LRW)

Examines how parents from different cultural groups mediated a simple narrative text to their 4-year-old children. Suggests when reading is less important for the parents personally, they are less inclined to deviate from the text to negotiate meaning. Notes the ethnic groups differed in how the parents interacted with their children, but these…

Used an ethnographical approach to study naturally occurring events when 3- to 6-year-olds in a Montessori school used books alone or with other children. Found that teacher practices encouraged the frequency and variety of book events, and that book events reflected the larger classroom and community cultures and underscored the value of…

Describes the eight-week "Reading is Fun" summer program, one of several ways the Metropolitan Library System serves Oklahoma County's at-risk youth. A lesson plan was developed that called for borrowing library books that related to a weekly theme, reading aloud to children, and hands-on activities. Other projects for at-risk youth are…

Describes some findings from the Books for Babies project, a central strand of Derbyshire's county-wide literacy initiative, Read On--Write Away! (ROWA!). Indicates that there are additional benefits for other family group members when a Book Start project includes follow-up activities and is connected to wider ranging community literacy…

This study investigated the effects of teaching mothers of low socioeconomic status (SES) to use decontextualized language during storybook reading with their preschool-age children. A multiple baseline design across behaviors and participants evaluated the effects of the intervention for five dyads. Mothers' and children's use of decontextualized…

Single-task and dual-task versions of verbal and spatial serial order memory tasks were administered to 120 students tested for working memory capacity with four previously validated measures. In the dual-task versions, similarity between the memory material and the material of the secondary processing task was varied. With verbal material, three…