Preschool and Child Care

I Love Storytime: The Best Way to Read to Your Toddler

By: Leslie Garisto Pfaff (2008)

Reading to your toddler is one of the best ways to boost language skills. Here are 12 tips to help make sure your toddler gets a head start on reading.

Early Literacy and Preschool Resources

By: Reading Rockets (2008)

Pre-K Across the Country

By: Pre-K Now (2008)

The state of pre-kindergarten varies across the country. This national snapshot is a good starting point for understanding what's happening in pre-K right now.

What Is High Quality?

By: Pre-K Now (2008)

When you walk into a high-quality pre-K classroom you immediately see learning occurring. The following elements are critical to providing the sense of purpose, organization, and excitement that creates the best results for children.

Pre-K and Latinos

By: Pre-K Now (2008)

Latino children make up the largest and most rapidly growing racial/ethnic minority population in the U.S. Find out how pre-K programs can play a key role in helping these children in school readiness and educational achievement.

Early Literacy: Policy and Practice in the Preschool Years

By: Dorothy Strickland and Shannon Riley-Ayers (2006)

Taking Charge of TV

By: U.S. Department of Education (2005)

By the time they begin kindergarten, children in the United States have watched an average of 4,000 hours of TV. Here are some tips that will help you monitor and guide your child's TV viewing.

Helping Young Children Start School

By: National Association for the Education of Young Children (2005)

Parents should be aware of ways to make the most of learning opportunities for their babies and preschoolers. The National Association for the Education of Young Children provides these guidelines to help parents identify high-quality early care and education programs for young children.

Phonemic Activities for the Preschool or Elementary Classroom

By: Marilyn J. Adams, Barbara Foorman, Ingvar Lundberg, and Terri Beeler (2004)

Activities that stimulate phonemic awareness in preschool and elementary school children are one sure way to get a child ready for reading! Here are eight of them from expert Marilyn Jager Adams.

High-Quality Preschool: Why We Need It and What It Looks Like

By: National Institute for Early Education Research (2002)

Research shows that 3- and 4-year-olds who attend a high-quality preschool are more successful in kindergarten and beyond. But research also shows that most preschool programs are not high-quality. This policy brief looks at what "high-quality" means, and how early childhood education can be improved.

Home Visiting Program Helps Toddlers Fill Learning Gaps

By: Linda Jacobson (2002)

The Parent-Child Home Program, a Manhasset, NY-based home visiting instigative for 2- and 3- year old children which has operated in Massachusetts and New York for years, is now proving so successful that it is expanding service to four other states. The PCHP focuses on children who are deemed to be at the greatest risk of failure in school – those with low-income parents who have limited education.

Study Says More Time in Child Care Connected to Bad Behavior

By: Linda Jacobson (2001)

A new NICHD study constitutes another chapter in the debate over the effects of child care. The study found that increased time in child care resulted in increased risk of aggression and misbehavior.

Give Your Child a Head Start

By: Head Start Information and Publication Center (2001)

Head Start is a Federal program for preschool children from low-income families. The Head Start program is operated by local non-profit organizations in almost every county in the country.

Early Literacy Instruction: Research Applications in the Classroom

By: Chia-Hui Lin (2001)

Teaching reading and writing to young children in American has always been an area of controversy and debate (Teale & Yokota, 2000), and it remains so today. The purpose of this article is to review various research studies and to identify essential elements of effective early literacy classroom instruction.

Do Preschoolers Need Academic Content?

By: Grover J. (Russ) Whitehurst (2001)

Reading skills provide a critical foundation for children's academic success. Children who read well read more and, as a result, acquire more knowledge in numerous domains.

The NICHD Study of Early Child Care

By: Robin Peth-Pierce (2001)

According to a recent major study of over 1,300 children across a seven-year period, different child care experiences influence the development of young children. Learn about these influences in this summary of a study conducted by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Literacy Milestones: Ages 3-4

By: Andrea DeBruin-Parecki, Kathryn Perkinson, and Lance Ferderer (2000)

Identifying a reading problem is a challenge without a sense for what typical literacy development looks like. Find out what language accomplishments are typical for most children at the age of three to four.

Literacy Milestones: Birth to Age 3

By: Andrea DeBruin-Parecki, Kathryn Perkinson, and Lance Ferderer (2000)

Identifying a reading problem is a challenge without a sense for what typical literacy development looks like. Find out what language accomplishments are typical for most children at the following age levels: birth to three, three to four, age five, and age six.

Child Care is Education… And More

By: Joan Lombardi (1999)

Millions of children spend a part of the day in child care while their parents work. These settings – in centers and in homes – are places where children can learn and grow.

Improving Child Care for Reading Success

By: U.S. Department of Education (1999)

The number of children in child care is quickly increasing. Early childcare can lay the foundations for reading, and help prevent reading problems from developing. This article describes the current state of child care, and the challenges we face in improving its quality.