Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success

This helpful resource book for parents and educators stresses the importance of establishing strong reading skills in early childhood. Editors M. Susan Burns, Peg Griffin and Catherine E. Snow present a thorough guide to building a strong framework for reading, beginning in infancy and continuing through grade three. In each section, the authors offer practical, hands-on activities to share with children that will ignite interest in reading and build skills. Along with the development of specific reading skills, such as phonological and phonemic awareness, the editors explain how new experiences help expand a child's vocabulary. In addition to recommending children's reading activities at home (such as compiling grocery lists, singing songs, telling stories and, of course, reading), the book describes goals that should be reached at various ages (a kindergartner, for instance, should notice when simple sentences don't make sense). In the final section, the editors reveal that most reading problems can be avoided or resolved in the early years and emphasize the importance of a reader-friendly home, day-care and school environment. Parents will find this a comprehensive resource, and it will be especially useful for teachers planning literacy-enhancing classroom activities. (Feb.)