Children engaging in storybook reading: The influence of access to print resources, opportunity, and parental interaction

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Abstract

Economic and social class differences in literacy-specific experiences and access to print resources have been widely documented. This study examined an intervention strategy designed to provide access to literacy materials and opportunities for parent-child storybook reading in three Head Start Centers. There were three specific objectives: (1) to examine the influence of text type (highly predictable, episodic predictable, and narrative) on patterns of interaction between parents and children; (2) to examine whether there were differences in these patterns of interaction between low proficiency and proficient parent readers; and (3) to examine gains in receptive language and concepts of print scores for children of low proficiency and proficient parent readers. Forty-one parents and their children participated in the study; 18 low proficiency parent readers and 23 proficient parent readers were involved in a 12-week book club. Results indicated that text type affected patterns of interaction and that parents' reading proficiency influenced conversational interactions, with different text types serving as a scaffold for parent-child interaction. Regardless of parental reading proficiency, however, children's receptive language and concepts of print improved significantly, providing further evidence for the importance of parental storybook reading on children's emerging literacy.

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      Mothers with a lower education level often read less frequently to their children (Curenton & Justice, 2008; Foster, Lambert, Abbott-Shim, McCarty, & Franze, 2005; Roberts, Jurgens, & Burchinal, 2005; Yarosz & Barnett, 2001). Neuman (1996) found that parents who are proficient readers, which is correlated with education level, are more likely to engage in higher-order conversation with their children during reading, such as linking the text events to children's lives. Our results support the current literature: mothers with a college degree read significantly more per week to their child than mothers who had less education regardless of both groups participating in ROR.

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    The activity that is the subject of this report was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Education. However, the opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the U.S. Department of Education or the Pennsylvania Department of Education, and no official endorsement should be inferred.

    The author wishes to thank Lynanne Black and Maura Moran for their assistance on this project.

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