Importance of Early Childhood Reading Programs

Reading is one of the most basic acts of learning. All children should have access to quality, educational early reading programs where they learn the skills that can act as a cornerstone for later academic achievement.

Goals

Early childhood reading programs have similar intentions to the No Child Left Behind Act. The U.S. Department of Education founded the Early Reading First program as "a bold initiative to create early childhood centers of excellence that prepare young children to enter kindergarten with the necessary language, cognitive, and early reading skills for learning success."

Grants

Many early childhood reading programs are eligible for state and government grants that will assist their implementation in various regions of the country.

Academic Readiness

Children enrolled in preschool settings with early childhood reading programs are more likely to be academically prepared when they are the appropriate age for school. According to the National Institute for Literacy, "the strongest and most consistent predictors of later literacy development are alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness and memory, rapid automatized naming of letters and objects, and writing letters."

Comprehension

Children who are learning to read develop fundamental comprehension skills. The earlier these children learn these skills, the more time they will have to practice and apply what they have learned.

Vocabulary

Children introduced to a wide range of vocabulary words are able to use vocabulary as a base for the more complex skills involved in grammar and reading comprehension.

References

• U.S. Department of Education: Early Reading First
• National Institute for Literacy: Early Beginnings