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Read With Me! NEW RESOURCE!
A great resource for early reading materials!!!
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Study presented at the 1999 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Washington, D.C.
This study investigated the effects of training parents to use specific reading techniques on the language and pre-literacy skills demonstrated by their children during storybook interactions. Although schools can do much to build literacy skills, numerous investigations have suggested that exposing children to developmentally appropriate activities related to reading and writing during the preschool years, has a substantial impact in getting children off to a better start when formal reading instruction begins (Cole, 1995; Fey, Catts, and Larrivee, 1995). This investigation sought to test the hypothesis that parent education regarding Methods Participants Twenty-six preschool aged children and their parents were randomly assigned to either an experimental (n=13) or delayed treatment control (n=13) group. Children with and without identified language delays took part in the investigation; however, children with frank neurological, cognitive, or emotional delays were excluded.
Participant Characteristics
Treatment Three sixty-minute training workshops, one each week for three consecutive weeks, were provided to parents of children in the experimental group. Two strategies were introduced each week through direct instruction, practice with specific books, and discussion of the rationale for each strategy. Parents were further provided with written information, books, and materials to support the use of the strategies in the home setting. Strategies Trained
Experimental Variables To examine performance of each of the targeted variables, video-tapes of parent-child reading interactions (two books at each interval) were collected at pretest and three weeks following the final training session (a total of six weeks later). Differences between groups on four child behaviors MLU, NDW, % Attending, # Verbal Participations, one parent behavior, % open-ended questions used, and one combined variable – ratio of number of parent utterances to number of child utterances during the reading interaction.
Results Results of this investigation suggest children whose parents received training demonstrated significant increases on the targeted variables. In addition, parental behavior were also modified. Number
of Different Words
Number of Verbal Participations Demonstrated by Children During Parent-Child Reading Interactions
Percentage Attending Behavior Demonstrated by Children During Parent-Child Reading Interactions
Percentage of Open-Ended Questions Used by Parent During Parent-Child Reading Interactions
Ratio of Parent to Child Utterances During Parent-Child Reading Interactions
Parent Perceptions of Children’s Reading Skills Parents were asked to rate specific behaviors regarding their child’s behaviors related to reading at pretest and again at posttest. Results suggest parents of children in the experimental groups demonstrated a marked overall positive increase in their attitudes and perceptions about reading with their children. Discussion These outcomes supplement previous findings suggesting that parent training can evoke changes in both parent and child behaviors. In addition, the hypothesis that parents who are instructed to use certain language and literacy stimulation techniques will demonstrate positive changes in their attitudes and perceptions about reading with their children was upheld.
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