Comprehension and interest in home reading

Abstract

This study was designed to provide information on how families from different sociocultural backgrounds help with reading at home, and shed light on the types of helping strategy which tend to be most successful. A further aim was to investigate possible mechanisms through which a home reading project might lead to significant reading gains. Parents from four main target groups were visited at home and interviewed about the help which family members gave with educational activities. The groups involved were middle class families (N=30), working class families (N=40), families from largely low SES areas who had participated in a Paired Reading project a year before (N=30) and families of Asian origin (N=50). About 100 recordings were taken of home reading sessions and these were analysed in terms of parental correction strategies and interaction. Analysis of data revealed significant differences in the helping styles adopted by the various groups and indicated that success in reading was associated with a parental helping style which emphasised comprehension and interest. The results are discussed in terms of implications for home reading projects.

Rhyme and Alliteration Sensitivity and Relevant Experiences among Preschoolers from Diverse Backgrounds

“…The results revealed that middle-income children engaged in such activities more frequently than low-income children. This is consistent with many other studies showing that middle-income children have more exposure to books than low-income children (Bus, van Ijzendoorn, & Pellegrini, 1995;Scarborough & Dobrich, 1994), as well as recent evidence of income-related differences in exposure to rhyming activities (Chaney, 1994;Elliott & Hewison, 1994;Marvin & Mirenda, 1993). In our sample, African-American and European-American children of the same income level participated in relevant activities with about the same frequency.…”

Volunteer Support in the Primary Classroom: The long‐term impact of one initiative upon children's reading performance

“…(pp. 58-59) Many of the children in the present study had home contexts which, given their unfavourable socio-economic circumstances, were unlikely to provide rich experiences of this kind (Elliott & Hewison, 1994). Whether a greater focus upon story (or, for that matter, phonological processes) would have resulted in a greater impact upon the children's long-term reading performance was not possible to discern.…”

Home and family influences on motivations for reading

“…Nevertheless, some parents, especially h s e from low-income backgrounds, tend, in their literacy interactions with their children, to give undue weight to skill development at the expense of enjoyment and entertainment (Baker et al, 1994;Elliott & Hewison, 1994;(Goldenberg et al, 1992). Formal instruction from parents may be counterproductive if it makes learning to read seem like work rather than play.…”