Young children’s home literacy experiences: Short- and long-term links to reading

1. Young children’s home literacy experiences: Short- and long-term links to reading Monique Sénéchal Carleton University monique_senechal@carleton.ca

2. 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

3. Environmental influences Child Interest Intervention studies

4. Environmental Influences

5. Environmental Influences • Storybook reading at home • Parent teaching about literacy

6. 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.

7. Study 1 111 English-speaking children followed from kindergarten to the end of grade 3 (n = 66).

8. Vocabulary Parent Reads to Child Reading Comprehension Phonological Awareness Parent Teaches Child Word Reading Early Literacy Beginning of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 3

9. Vocabulary Parent Reads to Child Reading Comprehension Phonological Awareness Parent Teaches Child Word Reading Early Literacy Beginning of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 3

10. Vocabulary Parent Reads to Child Reading Comprehension Phonological Awareness Parent Teaches Child Word Reading Early Literacy Beginning of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 3

11. Vocabulary Parent Reads to Child Reading Comprehension Phonological Awareness Parent Teaches Child Word Reading Early Literacy Beginning of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 3

12. Take-Home Message #1 Meaning-related activities are linked to vocabulary whereas print-related activities are linked to early literacy.

13. 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.

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

15. Vocabulary Parent Reads to Child Phonological Awareness Parent Teaches Child Word Reading Word Reading Early Literacy Beginning of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 2

16. Vocabulary Parent Reads to Child Phonological Awareness Parent Teaches Child Word Reading Word Reading Early Literacy Beginning of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 2

17. Vocabulary Parent Reads to Child Phonological Awareness Parent Teaches Child Word Reading Word Reading Early Literacy Beginning of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 2

18. Vocabulary Parent Reads to Child Phonological Awareness Parent Teaches Child Early Literacy Word Reading Word Reading Beginning of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 2

19. Parent Teaches Child Parent Teaches Child Parent Teaches Child Early literacy Word Reading Early literacy Beginning of K. Beg of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 2

20. Parent Teaches Child Parent Teaches Child Parent Teaches Child .45 .26 Early literacy Word Reading Early literacy .75 .67 Beginning of K. Beg of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 2

21. Parent Teaches Child Parent Teaches Child Parent Teaches Child .45 .26 .35 .36 -.34 Early literacy Word Reading Early literacy .75 .67 Beginning of K. Beg of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 2

22. Parent Teaches Child Parent Teaches Child Parent Teaches Child .45 .26 .30 .33 -.34 .35 .36 .25 -.29 Early literacy Word Reading Early literacy .75 .67 Beginning of K. Beg of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 2

23. Parent Teaches Child Parent Teaches Child Parent Teaches Child .45 .26 .30 .33 -.34 .35 .36 .25 -.29 Early literacy Word Reading Early literacy .75 .67 Beginning of K. Beg of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 2

24. Take-Home Message #2 The relation between parent teaching and child outcomes changes over time.

25. Study 3 LeFevre & Sénéchal (in preparation). The Home Literacy Experiences of French-Immersion Children

26. Study 3 90 French-speaking children followed from kindergarten to the end of grade 4 (n = 65)

27. Reading for pleasure Vocabulary Parent Reads to Child Reading Comprehension Phonological Awareness Parent Teaches Child Word Reading Early Literacy Reading Fluency End of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 4

28. Reading for pleasure Vocabulary Parent Reads to Child Reading Comprehension Phonological Awareness Parent Teaches Child Word Reading Early Literacy Reading Fluency End of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 4

29. Reading for pleasure Vocabulary Parent Reads to Child Reading Comprehension Phonological Awareness Parent Teaches Child Word Reading Early Literacy Reading Fluency End of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 4

30. Reading for pleasure Vocabulary Parent Reads to Child Reading Comprehension Phonological Awareness Parent Teaches Child Word Reading Early Literacy Reading Fluency End of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 4

31. Reading for pleasure Vocabulary Parent Reads to Child Reading Comprehension Phonological Awareness Parent Teaches Child Word Reading Early Literacy Reading Fluency End of Kindergarten End of Gr. 1 End of Gr. 4

32. 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.

33. Study 4 Martini & Sénéchal (in preparation). Learning Literacy Skills at Home: Parent Teaching, Beliefs, and Expectations

34. Study 4 108 English-speaking children in kindergarten

35. Teaching behaviors: • basic skills • to read words • more advanced skills

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

37. 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

38. 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.

39. Child Interest • A child measure of interest: • in learning alphabet letters • in books

40. Child Interest in Books Parent Reads to Child Early Literacy Parent Teaches Child Child Interest in Letters Fall of Kindergarten

41. Child Interest in Books Parent Reads to Child Early Literacy Parent Teaches Child Child Interest in Letters Fall of Kindergarten

42. Take-Home Message #5 It is experiences and interest in print per se that contribute to differences in children’s early literacy

43. Interventions

44. Interventions US National Center for Family Literacy http://www.famlit.org

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

46. Interventions Parents can help their child learn to read. The effect corresponds to a 10-point gain on a measure of literacy.

47. 3 types of interventions • Parents read to their child • Parents listened to their child read • Parents taught their child to read

48. 3 types of interventions Read……….no difference Listen………8 point gain Teach………17 point gain

49. Take-home message #6 Educators need to be careful about the claims they make on the benefits of shared reading.

50. Thank you!