The Secret of Natural Readers How Preschool Children Learn to Read

Subjects:

• Education » Childhood & Elementary Education
• Education » Education (General)

Reviews:

• This is a convincing account of six preschool children who become what Anbar calls "Natural Readers." The author uses this term to stress that most preschoolers can achieve reading literacy given the opportunity. Anbar suggests that people shed the traditional view that avoids direct language instruction in early childhood. She recommends people attend to print literacy in the same way as beginning speech--naturally in the child's environment. Her case studies illustrate the role of developmental stages in learning to read. While parents of the children studied devoted inordinate amounts of time to language "play" and informal instruction, Anbar claims that even slightly increased attention to oral and print language from age two to four can yield successful readers. This is useful information for parents of young children. Anbar's easy-to-grasp writing style is appropriate for a general readership....Anbar provides important information to parents and preschool teachers. This book calls into question the conventional wisdom that reading instruction is best left to formal schooling. Recommended. General readers and lower-division undergraduates.
  —Choice June 2005
• [O]ffers the tantalizing prospect of teaching preschoolers to read with no formal instruction....Anbar mixes research and detailed real-life situations to give parents practical suggestions on developing natural readers at an early age.
  —Booklist December 15, 2004

• Endorsement From Professor Peter Hannon,
  Department of Educational Studies
  University of Sheffield: Ada Anbar's engaging and insightful portrayals of early successful readers provide food for thought for parents and other educators.
• Endorsement From Tamar Jacobson, Ph.D.,
  Director, Uuniversity at Buffalo Child Care Center
  Author of Confronting Our Discomfort: Clearing the Way for Anti-Bias in Early Childhood.: This book is an insightful exploration of how young children learn to read. Ada Anbar gives parents and preschool teachers practical tips for fun and interesting ways to facilitate children's literacy development.
• Endorsement From Lesley M. Morrow,
  Professor of Literacy
  Former president of International Reading Association (IRA)
  Rutgers University: Preschool literacy is an important topic. We need to promote universal preschool and this book will help to do that. The book takes a very nice developmentally appropriate practice approach.
• Endorsement From Amy Ludwig Shuman, Ph.D.,
  Mother of a 2 1/2 and 5 year old: The book was thought provoking and made me rethink what it means to educate my kids. In particular, it reminded me never to underestimate the importance of reading and other 'literate' activities I do with my children. Reading is not just about bonding and closeness, but it's also about bringing literacy into your home and continuously creating learning opportunities for your children.
• Endorsement From Dorothy Golden,
  Nursery School Director and Pre-Kindergarten Teacher
  Kadimah Nursery School of Buffalo, N.Y.: The Secret of Natural Readers empowered me. As a pre-kindergarten teacher, I am so grateful to Ada Anbar. I feel that was speaking directly to me, clearly guiding me through the natural stages of discovery. I now feel encouraged to freely explore with my young students the many avenues to early reading in a relaxed and playful atmosphere. I highly recommend this book to parents and teachers alike. What a gift!

Table of Contents:

• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• By Way of Introduction
• Reading Has A History
• When Do Children Learn to Read?
• The Children's Stories
• Three-years-old and Reading
• Carrie's Story
• Two-year-old Brian
• Alicia's Story
• A Four-year-old Reader at Second Grade Level
• Bilingual Jenny
• Learning to Read Naturally
• Natural Reading Development
• To Take the Natural Course or Not?
• How, When, And Where
• Selected Bibliography
• Index