How Family Reading Contributes To Children’s Reading Comprehension

Children want to learn new things all the time. Their entire reality consists of exciting discoveries in a world that is new to them. Books, letters and words play an essential role in this. In fact, the little ones are intrigued by them even before they develop reading comprehension skills .

You may have seen young children holding books and “reading” stories, even though they don’t yet know how to do it. They interpret the images they see and imagine fantastic worlds limited only by their creative abilities.

Nonetheless, children learn to read in the early stages of development. You will learn to interpret the symbols we call letters and put them together into meaningful words.

As soon as children learn to read, they start working on a new skill that many parents don’t necessarily consider: reading comprehension . But what role does the family play in this phase? A very important one, as it turns out.

Children’s reading comprehension and the role of the family

Research by authors such as Stevenson and Rasinski shows that parental involvement in improving reading skills is important and should be encouraged.

Rasinski and Stevenson studied the effects of parental involvement in a project to develop reading fluency. The study included the families of first graders.

During the study, the researchers analyzed the progress of children with different reading skills. The children were randomly divided into experimental and control groups.

The parents of the children in the control groups did tasks with their children. They received instructions from schools to read to their children, but not systematically. They should only do this occasionally, along with the other duties assigned to them.

The parents in the experimental groups received training to help their children improve their reading fluency. They used materials specifically recommended by the teachers and spent 15 minutes on the project every day.

The importance of the family

The results of this study indicated that the students who received specific help from their parents during the experiment made greater progress than the children in the control groups.

The children in the experimental groups showed a greater ability to recognize words. They were also able to solve word recognition tasks faster than the children in the control groups. The experimental groups also improved their reading comprehension and language skills.

In addition, it is important to highlight that the children who participated in the research study loved the experience and had a lot of fun with it. They even felt that they had learned to read better and that they could understand difficult words more easily and learn more with each new reading.

Children’s reading comprehension and what the family can do

Now that you understand the usefulness of parenting and family engagement in a child’s reading comprehension, you may be wondering how you can put these ideas into action. Here are some suggestions:

• The teacher should find ways to communicate with the family. You can use informative reports, face-to-face contact, and regular meetings to encourage reading activities at home.
• Parents don’t usually have much free time. Therefore, reading activities should only take about 10 to 15 minutes per day. However, parents should try to do them consistently, every day if possible.
• Since parents are not professional educators, they should receive training and see presentations from professionals. That way, you will be able to perform the reading comprehension programs appropriately

• Parents should be given specific materials for fluent reading activities. For example poems, song books, puzzles, etc. The material should be suitable for the child and become increasingly difficult.
• The best types of shared reading activities are simple, enjoyable, and brief. This, in turn, will pique the child’s interest.
• Teachers should create assessment forms so parents and other educators can see the child’s progress.

Now you know how important families are to children’s reading comprehension. It is therefore the responsibility of parents and guardians to do their best to create optimal learning conditions for their children.