Remarks at Highland Park Elementary School in Landover, Maryland: week ending Friday, July 11, 2003

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, July 14, 2003

I want to thank Lori Ellis, the principal. When we leave, she can take a deep breath and relax and say, "Thank goodness the entourage has departed." [Laughter] I appreciate the--Tonya Riggins, who is the Highland Park Head Start Center coordinator. I want to thank Lisa Dunmore and Alice Williams, the two fine teachers we had to meet. For the teachers who are here, thank you for doing what you're doing. You're a part of a noble profession, an incredibly important profession for the future of this country. You know what I know, that reading is the key to all learning. It's where you've got to start.

And the research--I see some of my friends from the National Research Council, National Institutions of Child Health who are here. Reid Lyon is an expert. He's not a political person. He's a scientist. He understands how the brain works, and he's spent a lot of time analyzing what works and what doesn't work. He caught my attention when I was the Governor of Texas. I would ask him a question, "Are you sure we can teach kids, you know, the so-called impossible-to-teach?" He said, "Sure, I know it. I'm absolutely certain."

And so he started doing research to convince the people about the real future. And he says that--he and his fellow researchers--that preschoolers can learn much more than we ever thought possible about words and sounds.

In other words, society limited how much a certain--how much a preschooler could learn. At least our imaginations weren't very open. It kind of felt like certain things were impossible to--certain knowledge was impossible to impart to our children, particularly the young.

And so I want to thank Reid and the good folks who are focusing on science, who have opened up a tremendous realm of possibility now to achieve that which we want, a literate America. He also says there--he and other researchers say, and this is just as important, kids love to learn. They love to learn to read. Even the youngest child can learn that we read words and letters from left to right or that letters are associated with sounds; even the youngest of toddlers can figure that out over time.

In one exercise, children clapped for each syllable in a word. They can trace letters on the page to begin to understand the movements we use to write. They can play word games and learn rhymes and songs that help them to develop their own vocabulary. That sounds like a simple curriculum, but it is research-based, all aimed at laying the foundation for children to become good readers. These are what we call the building blocks, and these building blocks need to be a part of Head Start programs all across America. That's the mission. That's the goal.

Research also shows that if children do not develop these skills before they reach kindergarten, they will struggle to achieve success in their lives. Now, we need to listen to that kind of research in America. If the scientists come together and say, "If we fail in our mission to give children the foundation necessary for reading, they will fall behind and may not be able to develop the skills necessary, so they have to struggle in life," we got a--this is an opportunity that we better not miss.