To the Editor, The New York Times:

President Bush's desire to push reading readiness in Head Start [front page, Feb. 10] is misguided, and his aide's cavalier dismissal of those who advocate developmentally appropriate education for young children is appalling.

For thirty years the United States has experimented with teaching reading and writing to children in nursery school and kindergarten, before they are developmentally ready to learn these complicated skills. If this approach worked we would surely see the results by now.

When Germany tried the same experiment in the 1970s it found that children from play-oriented kindergartens outpaced those from academic kindergartens by fourth grade. As a result, all German kindergartens again emphasize play, not academics.

Rather than pressuring three- and four-year-olds to master material they are not ready for, we need to push reading back into the first grade where it belongs and stop creating unnecessary stress in the lives of young children. For at-risk children, who are already facing tremendous difficulties, this stress can be the straw that breaks the camel's back as far as school success is concerned.

Joan Almon, U.S. Coordinator
Alliance for Childhood
College Park, Maryland