Parental involvement in the development of children's reading skill: a five-year longitudinal study

This digest found in

Early years
English
Parents

Authors

Sénéchal. M., and LeFevre, J. Department of Psychology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.

Publisher

Child Development, March/April 2002 Vol. 73, No.2, pp.445-460

Introduction

It is well established that parental involvement is important to children's learning (e.g. Desforges 2003). This Canadian study aimed to build on earlier research which highlighted the effectiveness of parental involvement in helping children read. Specifically the researchers set out to track the effects of two specific types of middle and upper-middle class parental help on the development of their children’s reading skills: storybook reading and informal teaching of print (letters and sounds etc). The researchers followed the progress in reading of 168 children, from age four until age nine years. Parents completed questionnaires about their child's literacy experiences at home and the children's reading skills were assessed at school.

The researchers found that the two types of pre-school parental involvement helped their children along learning 'pathways' in which they developed reading skills, and which at a later stage directly or indirectly helped them become fluent readers.

These findings help increase our understanding of the reasons why and in what specific ways parental involvement can be important for literacy development.

Keywords
Canada; Parents; Literacy; Reading; Key Stage 1; Key Stage 2; Primary schools; Socio-economic influences; Writing; Home-school links; Pupils

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction What were the researchers' aims and what did they find out? How did parental involvement affect children's reading attainment? Why is parental involvement in children's literacy development important? How was the study designed? What are the implications of the study for parents and teachers? Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader Parental involvement in the development of children's reading skill: a five-year longitudinal study This digest found in Early years English Parents Send to a friend Word doc 50KB Printer friendly Collate for later Authors Sénéchal. M., and LeFevre, J. Department of Psychology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. Publisher Child Development, March/April 2002 Vol. 73, No.2, pp.445-460 Introduction It is well established that parental involvement is important to children's learning (e.g. Desforges 2003). This Canadian study aimed to build on earlier research which highlighted the effectiveness of parental involvement in helping children read. Specifically the researchers set out to track the effects of two specific types of middle and upper-middle class parental help on the development of their children’s reading skills: storybook reading and informal teaching of print (letters and sounds etc). The researchers followed the progress in reading of 168 children, from age four until age nine years. Parents completed questionnaires about their child's literacy experiences at home and the children's reading skills were assessed at school. The researchers found that the two types of pre-school parental involvement helped their children along learning 'pathways' in which they developed reading skills, and which at a later stage directly or indirectly helped them become fluent readers. These findings help increase our understanding of the reasons why and in what specific ways parental involvement can be important for literacy development. Keywords Canada; Parents; Literacy; Reading; Key Stage 1; Key Stage 2; Primary schools; Socio-economic influences; Writing; Home-school links; Pupils