Developing Reading Partnerships Between Parents and Children: A Reflection on the Reading Together Program

Abstract

Early reading exposure is important in setting a foundation for students to acquire the basic literacy skills that set them up for school and life success. More importantly, parent involvement at an early age is a critical component of reading skills development. This report presents an overview of the Reading Together Program that introduced families of young children ages 6-36 months in a community-based setting to the necessary skills, techniques, and resources to enhance their knowledge of how to effectively develop a reading partnership with their children. Additionally, this free reading program that was sponsored by a faculty development grant invited parents to play an active role in their children's reading journey. Results indicated that parents understood and appreciated the value of early reading habits, and would continue to nurture the reading relationship with their children. This article also presents responses of the initial and final reading perception surveys as well as implications for future research and practice.

Effectiveness of a Program of Family Involvement in Reading Students of 1st Primary // Eficacia de un programa de implicación familiar en la lectura de alumnado de 1o de Educación Primaria

“…This data confirms the hypothesis regarding the effectiveness of family implication in reading through participation in the program "Would you read me a story, please?" The results are also consistent with other, similar studies (Sukhram & Hsu, 2012;Van Steensel, McElvany, Kurvers, & Herppich, 2011;Van Voorhis et al, 2013). The greater increase in reading achievement within the experimental group applies to the four subscales that were evaluated, thus demonstrating that the positive effects of the program hold true for both the lexical and semantic aspects of reading.…”

“…It has also been associated with other parameters of learning adaptation such as a decrease in the rate of grade repetition, a lower percentage of dropping out among teenage students, a greater number of students earning a diploma and a larger number of students studying in advanced courses (Sukhram & Hsu, 2012).…”

The Role of Leadership in Engaging Parents in United Arab Emirate Schools

“…While private tutoring is a common practice among UAE families, school leaders need to focus on this type of parental involvement because helping children at home has positive effects on their achievement (Harris and Goodall, 2008), specifically in certain subjects such as reading (Sukhram & Hsu, 2012) and mathematics (Sheldon & Epstein 2005).…”

Family Connections: The Importance of Prison Reading Programs for Incarcerated Parents and Their Children

“…Reading achievement is directly related to students' interest in and motivation for school, and their interest in and motivation for school are directly related to their academic success (Kreider, 2011;Sukhram & Hsu, 2012). Because academic success is negatively correlated with disruptive school behavior and with future incidents of juvenile offending (Christle & Yell, 2008;Williams & McGee, 1994), one solution to the problem of juvenile delinquency (a particular risk factor for children of incarcerated fathers) is to support and facilitate children's interest and achievement in reading.…”

“…Parents' engagement in their children's reading motivation is encouraged for schoolage children and adolescents as well as in Head Start and prekindergarten settings (Kreider, 2011). Research indicates that this can be achieved outside prison settings both through parents' reading to their children (Kellam, 1985;Sukhram & Hsu, 2012) and parents' own reading behavior (Mullan, 2010). In the study by Mullan (2010), the results were gendered: girls' reading was associated with mothers' reading and boys' reading associated with fathers' reading: "Taken together, these findings provide empirical support for the positive role that parents can play in modeling reading, and especially for fathers in relation to boys" (p. 427).…”