Young children’s home literacy experiences:

Short- and long-term links to reading

Monique SénéchalCarleton Universitymonique_senechal@carleton.ca

Collaborators:

Jo-Anne LeFevre, Eleanor Thomas, Penelope Lawson, Ernie Hudson, Brenda Smith, Karen Colton, Karen Daley, Anne Hargrave, Jo-Anne Monker, Tina Leclaire, Ed Cornell

1. Environmental influences

2. Child Interest

3. Intervention studies

Environmental Influences

Environmental Influences

• Storybook reading at home

• Parent teaching about literacy

Study 1

Sénéchal, M., & LeFevre, J. (2002). Parental involvement in the development of children's reading skill: A 5-year longitudinal study. Child Development, 73, 445-460.

Study 1

111 English-speaking children followed from kindergarten to the end of grade 3 (n = 66).

Vocabulary

Parent Reads to

Child

Early Literacy

Word Reading

Reading Comprehension

Phonological Awareness

Parent Teaches

Child

Beginning of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 3

Vocabulary

Parent Reads to

Child

Early Literacy

Word Reading

Reading Comprehension

Phonological Awareness

Parent Teaches

Child

Beginning of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 3

Vocabulary

Parent Reads to

Child

Early Literacy

Word Reading

Reading Comprehension

Phonological Awareness

Parent Teaches

Child

Beginning of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 3

Vocabulary

Parent Reads to

Child

Early Literacy

Word Reading

Reading Comprehension

Phonological Awareness

Parent Teaches

Child

Beginning of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 3

Take-Home Message #1

Meaning-related activities are linked to vocabulary whereas print-related activities are linked to early literacy.

Study 2

Sénéchal, M. (2006). Testing the Home Literacy Model: Parent Involvement in Kindergarten is Differentially Related to Grade 4 Reading Comprehension, Fluency, Spelling, and Reading for Pleasure. Journal for the Scientific Study of Reading, Accepted and to appear in volume 10 (1), 59-87.

Study 2

106 French-Immersion children followed from kindergarten to the end of grade 2 (n = 70)

Vocabulary

Parent Reads to

Child

Early Literacy

Word Reading

Phonological Awareness

Parent Teaches

Child

Beginning of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 2

Word Reading

Vocabulary

Parent Reads to

Child

Early Literacy

Word Reading

Phonological Awareness

Parent Teaches

Child

Beginning of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 2

Word Reading

Vocabulary

Parent Reads to

Child

Early Literacy

Word Reading

Phonological Awareness

Parent Teaches

Child

Beginning of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 2

Word Reading

Vocabulary

Parent Reads to

Child

Early Literacy

Word Reading

Word Reading

Phonological Awareness

Parent Teaches

Child

Beginning of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 2

Early literacy

Word Reading

Parent Teaches

Child

Beginning of K. Beg of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 2

Parent Teaches

Child

Parent Teaches

Child

Early literacy

Early literacy

Word Reading

Parent Teaches

Child

Beginning of K. Beg of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 2

Parent Teaches

Child

Parent Teaches

Child

Early literacy .75 .67

.26.45

Early literacy

Word Reading

Parent Teaches

Child

Beginning of K. Beg of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 2

Parent Teaches

Child

Parent Teaches

Child

Early literacy .75 .67

.26.45

.35 .36 -.34

Early literacy

Word Reading

Parent Teaches

Child

Beginning of K. Beg of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 2

Parent Teaches

Child

Parent Teaches

Child

Early literacy .75 .67

.26.45

.35 .36 -.34

.25

.30

-.29

.33

Early literacy

Word Reading

Parent Teaches

Child

Beginning of K. Beg of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 2

Parent Teaches

Child

Parent Teaches

Child

Early literacy .75 .67

.26.45

.35 .36 -.34

.25

.30

-.29

.33

Take-Home Message #2

The relation between parent teaching and child outcomes changes over time.

Study 3

LeFevre & Sénéchal (in preparation). The Home Literacy Experiences of French-Immersion Children

Study 3

90 French-speaking children followed from kindergarten to the end of grade 4 (n = 65)

Vocabulary

Parent Reads to

Child

Early Literacy

Word Reading

Reading Comprehension

Phonological Awareness

Parent Teaches

Child

End of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 4

Reading Fluency

Reading for pleasure

Vocabulary

Parent Reads to

Child

Early Literacy

Word Reading

Reading Comprehension

Phonological Awareness

Parent Teaches

Child

End of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 4

Reading Fluency

Reading for pleasure

Vocabulary

Parent Reads to

Child

Early Literacy

Word Reading

Reading Comprehension

Phonological Awareness

Parent Teaches

Child

End of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 4

Reading Fluency

Reading for pleasure

Vocabulary

Parent Reads to

Child

Early Literacy

Word Reading

Reading Comprehension

Phonological Awareness

Parent Teaches

Child

End of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 4

Reading Fluency

Reading for pleasure

Vocabulary

Parent Reads to

Child

Early Literacy

Word Reading

Reading Comprehension

Phonological Awareness

Parent Teaches

Child

End of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 4

Reading Fluency

Reading for pleasure

Take-Home Message #3

Shared reading has a long-term relation to children’s reading for pleasure;

Parent teaching has a long-term relation to children’s reading fluency.

Study 4

Martini & Sénéchal (in preparation). Learning Literacy Skills at Home: Parent Teaching, Beliefs, and Expectations

Study 4

108 English-speaking children in kindergarten

Teaching behaviors: basic skills to read words more advanced skills

Teaching contexts: Parents who report teaching use naturally occurring activities, not workbooks

Teaching is related: to higher expectations beliefs in literacy learning at home beliefs that children do well in grade 1 because of the teaching provided at home

Take-Home Message #4

Parents who report teaching frequently adopt a view of reading acquisition whereby learning to read begins at home before the onset of grade 1.

Child Interest

A child measure of interest:

• in learning alphabet letters

• in books

Child Interest in

Books

Parent Reads to

Child

Child Interest in

Letters

Early Literacy

Parent Teaches

Child

Fall of Kindergarten

Child Interest in

Books

Parent Reads to

Child

Child Interest in

Letters

Early Literacy

Parent Teaches

Child

Fall of Kindergarten

Take-Home Message #5

It is experiences and interest in print per se that contribute to differences in children’s early literacy

Interventions

Interventions

US National Center for Family Literacy

http://www.famlit.org

Interventions

14 intervention studies on parents’ role in their child’s reading acquisition from kindergarten to grade 3.

Interventions

Parents can help their child learn to read.

The effect corresponds to a 10-point gain on a measure of literacy.

3 types of interventions

• Parents read to their child• Parents listened to their child read• Parents taught their child to read

3 types of interventions

Read……….no difference Listen………8 point gain Teach………17 point gain

Take-home message #6

Educators need to be careful about the claims they make on the benefits of shared reading.

Thank you!