Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children

The International Reading Association/National Association for the Education of Young Children joint position statement on developmentally appropriate ways of teaching children to read and write comes to life here with photographs, concrete guidelines, and exciting ideas for the classroom.

Experiences commonplace in many homes and early childhood settings—such as adults reading to children—are key in laying the foundation for literacy. Yet these experiences are far from universal. To ensure that all children learn to read and write by the end of third grade, early childhood educators need to know more and do more to promote literacy in effective, developmentally appropriate ways.

Susan B. Neuman is a professor in educational studies at the University of Michigan and the director of the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Ability (CIERA). Her interests include beginning reading and writing, family literacy, and parent involvement. She is on the board of directors of the International Reading Association. Her most recent books include Children Achieving: Best Practices in Early Literacy (International Reading Association), Literacy in the Television Age (Ablex), and Language and Literacy in Early Childhood (Harcourt Brace). She received her doctorate from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.

Carol Copple, publications editor at NAEYC, has consulted and published in the early childhood field for many years. She was on the faculty at Louisiana State University and the New School for Social Research. At the Educational Testing Service she directed the preschool laboratory program and conducted research on children’s cognition. Among Dr. Copple’s publications are Educating the Young Thinker: Classroom Strategies for Cognitive Growth (Erlbaum) and Developmentally Appropriate Practice for Early Childhood Programs (NAEYC). She has also written extensively for parents in magazines and newspapers. Dr. Copple received her doctorate from Cornell University.

Sue Bredekamp is currently the director of research at the Council for Professional Recognition and senior advisor to the Head Start Bureau. From 1984 to 1998 she served as director of professional development at NAEYC. Other works Dr. Bredekamp has authored or coauthored are NAEYC’s Accreditation Criteria and Procedures and Guide to Accreditation (three editions of each); Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs (NAEYC 1987; revised edition 1997); and Reaching Potentials, volumes 1 and 2 (NAEYC). With Susan Neuman she wrote the 1998 IRA/NAEYC joint position statement that forms the basis of this book. She holds a Ph.D. in early childhood education from the University of Maryland. Her professional experience includes teaching and directing child care and preschool programs, training child care personnel at a community college, and serving on the faculty at Mount Vernon College in Washington, D.C.