Early 3 Rs
How To Lead Beginners Into Reading, Writing, and Arithme-talk

This practical, reader-friendly textbook for preservice and in-service early childhood education and early literacy courses provides "how-to-do-it" instructions for promoting emergent literacy in reading, writing, and arithmetic from preschool into the primary grades. Early 3 Rs answers the question: "What can I SAY and DO to give each child the best possible start on the 3 Rs?"

With the strategies and materials in this book, a teacher can give personalized direct instruction in the 3 Rs to a beginner, in just a few minutes a day. The early chapters tell how to prepare a young child for reading, writing, and arithmetic. Subsequent chapters show how to give a beginner an early start on learning the 3 Rs. All strategies begin with the oral approach (from phonemic awareness to "arithme-talk") and then progress to print that is personally meaningful to a young child. Early 3 Rs:
* Includes arithmetic as a component of early literacy.
* Gives developmentally appropriate methods for direct teaching of the 3 Rs.
* Provides scripts of what the teacher can say to promote early learning.
* Helps education students in field-based classes offer personalized instruction.

Early 3 Rs is written to be very reader friendly: the approach is intentionally eclectic; the writing deliberately avoids heavy theory; the goal is to provide an easy-to-use, highly practical and accessible guide for those who work in early childhood education settings.

Contents: Preface. Part I: How to Foster Growth Toward Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. Preview of Unit I: Fostering Growth Toward the 3 Rs. Immerse Children in the Oral Language of the 3 Rs. Speak Arithme-Talk to Develop Concepts. Read Aloud to Them, With Participation Extras. Get Them Ready for Phonics--Orally. Surround Them With Written Language, and Talk About Print. Demonstrate Writing, and Talk About Whatever They Write. Seize the Teachable Moment. Summary of Unit I. Part II: How to Help Early Learners Take Their First Steps Into the 3 Rs. Preview of Unit II: Help With the First Steps. Teach Each Beginning Reader Four Words. Help Each Child Write a Personalized Storybook. Connect Familiar Initial Letters With Their Sounds. Make a Personalized 1, 2, 3 Book With Each Early Learner. Introduce More Numbers, Words, and Personalized Books. Use Child-Selected Words for Teaching More Phonics. Summary of Unit II. Part III: How to Expand and Vary Strategies for Early Teaching of the 3 Rs. Preview of Unit III: Expand Strategies for Early Teaching. Use Software and Equipment to Enrich Your Teaching. Move Toward Math Through Children's Books. Start a Word Wall of Pupils' Names in Alphabetical Order. Go Beyond Concrete Nouns and Action Verbs. Teach the Whole Alphabet for Reading, Writing, and Phonics. Stimulate New Areas of Language Development. Summary of Unit III. Part IV: How to Smooth the Transition Into 3 Rs in the Primary Grades. Preview of Unit IV: Move Smoothly Into the Primary Grades. Strengthen When and Where Concepts as Background for Print. Play Games That Require Early Arithmetic. Model on Pattern Books, Using Phonics for Writing and Reading. Present High-Frequency Words in Age-Appropriate Ways. Use the Library to Extend Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. Summary of Unit IV. Epilogue.