Reading As A Family And Children’s Reading Comprehension

Children will learn new things, including reading. Children’s reality consists of constant discoveries in a world that is new to them. Books, letters and words play a significant role in this process. In fact, children are fascinated by them even before they develop reading comprehension skills.

You’ve probably seen young children with books “read” stories, even though they do not know how to do it yet. Thus , they interpret the images they see and imagine wonderful worlds, limited only by their creative abilities.

Nevertheless, children learn to read in the early stages of development. They learn to interpret the symbols we call letters and connect them together to form meaningful words.

As children learn to read, they begin to work on a new skill that many parents do not necessarily pay attention to: Reading comprehension. What role does the family play at this stage? A very important one it turns out.

Children’s reading comprehension and family

Research from authors such as Stevenson and Rasinski shows that parental involvement in improving reading skills while children begin to learn and read is important and should be supported.

Rasinski and Stevenson studied the effects of parental involvement in a reading development project. The study involved the families of first-grade students.

During the study, researchers analyzed the progress of children at different reading levels. The children were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups.

The parents of the children in the control groups did tasks with their children. They received instructions from the school to read to their children, but not systematically. They had to do it only a few times, among the other tasks they were assigned.

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

Reading as a family and the importance of the family

According to this study, students with specific help from their parents during the experiment got more out of it than the children in the control groups.

The children in the experimental groups showed greater recognition of words. They were also able to do the tasks faster than the children in the control groups. Experimental groups also improved reading comprehension and fluency in reading.

In addition, it is important to emphasize that the children who participated in the research study were very excited about the experience, which was very fun for them. In fact, they considered that they had learned to read better and found it easier to understand difficult words that they learned with each new reading.

How can the family be involved?

Now that you know how useful parental and family participation is for a child’s reading comprehension, how can you get these ideas started? Here are some suggestions:

• The supervisor should make suggestions for communication with the family. They can use informative reports, personal contact and periodic meetings to encourage reading activities at home.
• Parents usually do not have much free time. Thus, these activities should only take about 10 to 15 minutes a day. However, parents should try to do it consistently, every day if possible.
• Parents are not professional teachers, so they should be trained and watch demonstrations by professionals. That way, they will be equipped to do these programs.

• Parents should receive specific material for reading fluently. For example, poems, songbooks, riddles, etc. The material should be suitable for the child and gradually become more difficult.
• The best types of shared reading activities are simple, enjoyable and short. It will help to arouse the child’s interest.
• Teachers should provide evaluation forms so that parents and other educators can see the child’s progress.

Now you know how important family is for children’s reading comprehension. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the parents and guardians to do their best to provide optimal learning conditions for the children.