In the new 20 minute “Parents, Books, and the Roots of Literacy” podcast from the New America Foundation’s Early Education Initiative Early Ed Watch, Gabrielle Miller, a former teacher and national expert on early literacy interventions, discusses research showing the importance of positive family involvement for a child’s later reading success.
Despite conventional wisdom that children learn to read in school, research increasingly shows that many of the skills that influence a child’s success in reading are established long before they arrive in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classrooms. Ms. Miller shares what this growing body of research means and its implications for schools and early childhood programs. Miller is a former teacher who is now national executive director for Raising A Reader, a non-profit organization whose aim is to instill a love of reading among parents and children, especially those in poverty or who are otherwise disadvantaged.