experimental kindergarten program

Basic to the current approaches in teaching reading is the as sumption that success in beginning reading is crucial and that reading programs in the primary grades must be organized to assure this success. Evidence of the importance of achievement in initial reading instruction is the large number of research studies designed to find more effective ways of teaching beginning reading. Further evidence of the emphasis on early stages of reading is found in the relatively recent number of research projects in reading readiness. Sesame Street, through the powerful teaching medium of television, has greatly increased the interest of the nation in pre-reading skills. This innovative program accepts the premise that the pre-kindergarten years are a period of substantial and significant intellectual development (Palmer, 1969). It has adopted the techniques and approaches of commercial television to help preschoolers develop skills necessary to a successful start in formal reading instruction.