Online procedure to encourage reading in children with school difficulties and their guardians, during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

School is the main environment for the formal promotion of literacy and it is the first step to the world of reading. However, with the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic, pedagogical activities had to be suspended or adapted to the remote model, causing harm to all students, and notably to those who already had school difficulties, especially those related to reading. Proficiency and the habit of reading are important conditions for academic development. Studies have shown that the application of strategies in the family context and the use of digital platforms, with the purpose of sharing readings, are practices that promote the reading habit. Therefore, the present study aimed to report the experiences of applying an online procedure to encourage reading in children with school difficulties and their respective guardians (six dyads), using a specific digital platform for sharing readings. The results obtained include a behavioral change in the children towards solid reading habits, a change in mothers' daily attitudes in the family environment towards encouraging reading, and mothers’ encouraging behaviors when sharing their children’s reading. The experiences reported were promising and, to further consolidate the findings, new studies are suggested with a sample size that allows statistical analyses, longitudinal studies and also with a possible face-to-face or hybrid application of the procedure.