Ready or Not Should They Be Taught

One quiet afternoon recently as I was pondering an article advocating early reading instruction, I could hear my children playing hide-and-seek. They were shouting, Ready or not you shall be caught! I could not help drawing an analogy between the meaning of their childish rhyme and my feeling toward the growing tempo and insistence of demands to plunge preschool children indiscriminately into formalized reading activities. Unconsciously I paraphrased the rhyme, Ready or not you SHALL be TAUGHT! It had an ominous connotation smacking of pursuit, capture, and force and I began considering the problem in earnest

Nonreaders are Nonexistent

Jack stared impatiently at the red traffic light and waited. He was anxious to get back to school after lunch. The light changed to green but as the boy stepped into the street, the sound of an approaching siren told him that the light must be ignored and he re turned to the curb. The emergency car passed, the traffic light cycled green again and Jack made his way safely across the street where he was suddenly confronted by a very large dog. The boy\u27s initial reaction of fright was instantly dispelled when he recognized the dog\u27s friendly intentions by its wagging tail and playful manner

Teaching Reading With i/t/a: A Research Report

Perhaps the most radical of recent innovations to explode upon the embattled horizon of the continuing reading controversy is i/t/a, the Initial Teaching Alphabet