30 minutes. #501 in the Reading Rockets series.
We once thought a child's education started in kindergarten -- but that could be years too late.
Hosted by Reba McEntire, "Toddling Toward Reading" examines what it takes to give our
preschoolers the early literacy skills they need to become successful readers. In Texas, Illinois,
Georgia and Washington, DC, we meet the dedicated parents, teachers and researchers who
are discovering how to give our children a good start on a great future.

(available 9/1/08)
This program is the newest episode of "Reading Rockets: Launching Young Readers", the award-winning series of innovative half-hour programs about how children learn to read, why so many struggle, and what we can do to help.

Toddling Toward Reading visits various programs around the country that are finding innovative ways to get youngsters ready for school, including:
. Reach Out and Read (ROR), a national organization that talks about literacy training as part of well-baby visits.
. A school which runs a inclusion model that mixes special needs students with typically developing students and provides many of its therapies in the classroom.
. A parent-child center which offers a high-quality preschool for children and research-based literacy training for parents.
. A preschool that runs a dual-language immersion program.

Toddling Toward Reading includes an interview with Sandra Boynton, author and illustrator of many preschool books, who talks about what inspired her to write children's stories.