Reading Resource Center

VIDEO: The Story Behind All About Reading

Find out why we’re so passionate about helping you teach your child to read. Read more

The Big Five Skills

The All About Reading program starts at the preschool level to teach the Big Five Skills, five essential pre-reading skills that prepare children for learning to read. Research confirms that children who have learned these skills before they are taught to read have the greatest chance of becoming successful readers. Read more

Print Awareness

Print awareness is the most basic of the Big Five Skills, and is important because it teaches children how print is used, as opposed to how to read it. The greater a child’s awareness of print, the more quickly and easily he can learn to read. Read more

Letter Knowledge

With letter knowledge, children learn that the purpose of letters and their sounds is to create words, and that words convey information and allow us to communicate. Familiarity with letters is important for children when they learn to read because it helps them develop strong decoding skills. Read more

Phonological Awareness

Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and identify the different sounds in words. The awareness of sounds and how they relate to words gives children an understanding of the internal structure of language, and is a good foundation for learning phonics, word analysis, and spelling. Read more

Listening Comprehension

Listening comprehension is a child’s ability to understand the meaning of the words he hears and to relate to them in some way. This is an important skill to develop even at an early age, because good listeners grow up to become good communicators.Read more

Motivation to Read

A motivation to read means children have learned that reading can be valuable for many reasons—that it is not only interesting and entertaining, but that it can also be enlightening and informative. Having a love of reading also gives children confidence in their ability to learn and satisfaction with themselves. Read more

Teaching Phonological Awareness

The skill of phonological awareness is important because once your child understands the concept of words when they are spoken, it is so much easier for him to grasp the concept of words when they are written. Engaging in phonological awareness activities is excellent preparation for learning to read and spell. Read more

Phonics and Decoding

Phonics is essential to learning to read accurately and quickly, and it leads to better comprehension of what is read. Studies show that a phonics-based reading program significantly improves a child’s chances of becoming a good reader—an essential skill since a child must first learn to read in order to learn. Read more

Vocabulary

Most vocabulary is learned indirectly, through listening and speaking. So the more oral language experience children have, the more word meanings they learn—which in turn helps them build their vocabulary, especially when they are young.Read more

Fluency

Learning to read fluently is vital because fluency is the bridge between word recognition and comprehension. Fluency not only makes reading a pleasure, it also makes children eager to read, thus helping them learn much faster and more easily. Read more

Reading Comprehension

Comprehension is the purpose of reading. Good readers can understand what they read, remember it, and share it with others. But purposeful reading is a complex process that does not happen automatically when a child first begins to read words; rather, it is a skill that is learned gradually so that as a child grows, comprehension comes easily and naturally. Read more

Checklist: Is Your Child Ready to Learn to Read?

Perhaps your child already knows the alphabet and loves read-aloud time—but how can you tell if he or she is ready to begin formal reading instruction? Fill out this checklist to evaluate your child’s reading readiness! Read more

How to Avoid the Curse of Knowledge

A master violinist intuitively knows just the right amount of pressure to apply to the bow to create soulful sounds, but may find it difficult to convey that knowledge and experience to another person. Find out how to move beyond this "curse" so you can teach your child effectively. Read more