Now that school is in full swing, parents and teachers are focused on getting younger students to read well. It may help to know that reading readiness is based on several factors, according to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
One key is to create a “literacy rich” home environment full of children's books and audio recordings. Perhaps the best way to help children to read is by reading to them. The NCES reports that children whose parents read to them tend to become better readers and perform better in school. Telling stories and singing songs also encourage acquisition of literacy skills.

A positive attitude is just as important, experts say. The study found that children who are eager to learn, can pay attention, and persist at tasks when entering kindergarten have higher reading skills than children who do not display these behaviors.

A child's health is also linked to reading performance in the early years of school. Children in the study who were in "very good" to "excellent" general health when they entered kindergarten had higher scores in reading than their less-healthy peers when tested in the spring.

Finally, pre-literacy knowledge gives students an edge. The NCES analysis showed that entering kindergarteners who could recognize letters of the alphabet, numbers and shapes, and understand the concept of relative size of objects eventually demonstrated a higher reading proficiency than children who lacked those skills.

At Carden Academy of Huntington Beach, literacy begins in preschool. According to school founder Carol Van Asten, regular exposure to phonics is the first step in the process. Incorporating rhythmic verse keeps lessons at the appropriate developmental level for 4-year olds.

“The rhythmic verse allows the children to associate phonics sounds with each letter,” says Van Asten, 65. “We use this as a tool to familiarize them with a purpose for each letter." Each week, the preschoolers learn two new letters. They are reading by March.

A former teacher in the Los Angeles area, Van Asten founded this preschool through eighth-grade private school 30 years ago to promote her personal philosophy that preschoolers can learn to read if challenged. She firmly believes that early literacy builds a foundation of self-esteem and confidence that promotes higher achievement throughout a student's academic career.

This approach appears to produce results. Carden Huntington Beach reports that its kindergarteners scored in the 95th percentile in reading on the 2006-07 Stanford Achievement Test series, or SAT 10, a national standardized achievement test used primarily by private schools. Its 8th graders scored in the 90th percentile in six different categories. The school credits these results to a structured, demanding curriculum coupled with a patient, loving environment in classrooms that average 12 to 15 students.

Janet Otsuki
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Carden Academy - Huntington Beach (at 721 E. Utica Avenue).

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