Read!
This is the best framing of the work toward the goal of reading success by the end of third grade that we have encountered and the title says it all:
“Reading for Life: Learning to read by third grade is a goal that can organize everything we do for kids.”
The path to literacy doesn’t begin when children enter the schoolhouse door. It starts with high-quality prenatal care and maternal nutrition, to support healthy prenatal development, continuing with regular preventative health care, adequate nutrition, and developmental screenings in the infant and toddler years. It requires strong, stable, relationships with caregivers – whether parents or other caregivers – who stimulate infants’ and toddlers’ early language development by talking and reading to them, and, as children’s language skills develop, engaging them in rich conversations that encourage them to express themselves. High quality pre-K programs, taught by qualified teachers who understand how young children learn, and specifically designed to prepare children for school, can also help make sure children start school ready to learn to read. Effective elementary schools continue this process by providing high-quality instruction, delivered by skilled teachers and grounded in research about how young children learn to read.
Sara Mead. www.prospect.org June 13, 2010
To read the entire article go to www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=reading_for_life
