Independent Capstone Research Project

There are many benefits to reading. The Bilingual Kidspot outlines ten benefits that parents can grow in their children by reading with them. Reading to young children sets them up to succeed. The more that children are read to, the more knowledge and information they absorb, almost without realizing it. Reading develops language skills. Reading allows children to be exposed to different vocabulary and different topics. Reading exercises your brain and boosts brain activity which in turn can strengthen reading skills. It enhances a child’s concentration lengthening the child’s attention span. Reading encourages a thirst for knowledge. Reading leads to children being able to formulate questions about topics and helps them to investigate the topics fully, ultimately this investigation helps to expand their minds. Reading develops a child’s imagination and creativity. Reading helps develop empathy. When children read to they are able to practice putting themselves in the book, this helps them understand the feelings of the characters better and aides them in understanding their own feelings and emotions. When there is nothing else to do, reading can be a suitable option. Reading together can facilitate a bond between people. Reading with each other helps bring people together (Bonfiglio, 2017).

Interdisciplinary studies is a mode of solving a problem or exploring a concept by looking at it from the perspective of two or more disciplines. Interdisciplinary studies can be used to create new approaches and solve problems in new and innovative ways. In the Allen Repko book, Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies, he defines interdisciplinary studies as the integration of information, data, techniques, tools, perspectives, concepts and/or theories from two or more disciplines or bodies of specialized knowledge to understand or solve problems. These problems can be beyond the scope of a single discipline or area of research (Repko, 2014). Instead of trying to solve a problem by focusing on just one discipline, a person can choose to look at the problem through the lens of multiple disciplines. For example, in understanding the importance of reading to children, there is more than just what is considered traditional reading. In addition to physically hearing the spoken words, the concepts of literacy, language development, and child cognitive development are important.

Reading to children is one way to help develop their language skills. Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write. Reading to a child helps them to learn and practice five specific language skills. These five topics are: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and fluency. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and play with individual sounds in the spoken word. Phonics is the ability to connect the letters of written language with the sounds of spoken language. Vocabulary involves an understanding of the words people need to know in order to communicate effectively, both formally and informally. Reading comprehension is the ability to understand and gain meaning from what has been printed on the page. Fluency is the ability to read text accurately and quickly (Reading and Literacy in Children). These are not skills that the child develops automatically. These skills have to be taught. Before a child can learn to read they have to learn to speak. When adults talk to children they are likely to say the same things over and over again. For example, if you tell a child ‘no’ all of the time it is likely that the child will repeat ‘no’ in other situations. When you read to a child it introduces them to new words and expands their vocabulary. You may find the child repeating the words from the book. I work at a daycare and the children in my class love to look at books. There is one book in particular that they like so much it seems like they know all of the words, they even try to repeat them as I read it.

There have been many different studies conducted about literacy and language development in children. In a study published in the Journal of Research in Childhood Education, the effects of an early reading curriculum on language and literacy skills in Head Start Programs were studied. Twenty-nine children were involved in the study. Fourteen of the children were in an Early Literacy classroom where they were read to on a regular basis while fifteen children were in a regular classroom. The results showed that the children involved in the Early Literacy Program were more advanced in their language and literacy skills than the children not in the program (Kelley, 2004).

Another study discussed the effects of reading on the language and literacy development of students who had English as their second language. The study was reviewed in the Journal of Early Education and Development. It evaluated the effects of a family literacy program on the early English reading development of speakers of English as a first language as well as English language learners. The study included 147 families and lasted for nine weeks. During each week of the study, the families were asked to focus on reading materials from a different subject. The results were that the English language learners showed greater gains in their ability to understand print information. They also showed a gain in their knowledge of the alphabet. There were no major gains for the children who had English as their first language (Harper, 2011).

Reading is an important milestone in the stages of a child’s development. Children start to show a response to reading in the first few weeks after birth. Usually sometime in the first two to three months, children develop to the point where they are able to look at small soft covered books and touch the pictures. They are also able to make cooing sounds in response to a familiar voice or story. By the time they turn a year old, most children can turn the pages of large, board books and look at the pictures on the pages of the book. By age 2 they are able to pick out familiar pictures in story books and answer simple questions about the story as it is read to them. It is at this age that many children start to pretend to read. The pretend reading is simply turning the pages of the book and making up a story to go along with it. Children at this age can recite and recognize the cover and even some of the words to their favorite books. By age four children know the correct way to hold a book and understand that words are read from left to right and top to bottom on the printed page. Children at this age recognize that the words tell a story and often they can retell that story back to the reader when asked to do so. They are able to recognize the alphabet and “read” familiar labels and logos. Children also are able to start matching sounds to letters. This association is often reinforced by practicing writing techniques focused on the letters of the alphabet. Once a child has this mastered then they begin connecting real world objects with the words on the printed page. Sometimes at this stage they are able to recognize their own name and other commonly seen words.

By age 5 when most children are starting school, they begin to learn (and read) the most common sight words. They are even better at recognizing and matching letters to their-sounds. Kids are able to identify the beginning and ending sounds/letters of many common words in addition to the sight words that they may have memorized. Sight words help children recognize simple and frequently used words. A child at this age also usually begins to learn about the different rules for phonics and reading. Children can tell you the who, what, when, where, why, and how a story after they have listened to it. They are starting to predict what will happen next and how to put the story in order. At this age, many children even start writing and dictating their own stories. While this may look like scribbles on a paper, to the child it is a complete story that they are able to read back to the parent. By the time they reach ages 6-7 years, children start asking to be read to for information and entertainment. Children at this age are able to answer many more basic questions about the books that they have read or that have been read to them. By age 8 children are able to use context clues to decode unfamiliar words. They go back and reread when they make a mistake. Children will even start writing stories in the style of their favorite authors.

The main milestone for ages 9 to 13 is that children move from “learning to read” over to “reading to learn”. This last step in learning how to read shifts the focus to comprehension. They read with a purpose and begin to explore different literature genres. Students are able to put the events of a story in order and identify the main idea or theme of a story. They can understand metaphors and other descriptive literary devices. They are able to find meaning in what they have read. Teenagers are able to relate the events of the story to their own life. They can compare and contrast different materials, and discuss characters. Students are able to identify much more complex examples of imagery/symbolism, and analyze ideas form the text. (Morin).

Does a reader have the ability to combine all these components together to create meaning out of what they read? These steps in reading comprehension are not something that a child will learn all at one time. These skills are learned over a period of years of schooling, and for most people, much practice is needed to master the skill. When children are read to at an early age they are more likely to connect the steps of the sequence in a way that promotes successful reading and life-long learning. In a study done by the State Government of Victoria’s Department of Education, approximately 4000 children, aged 4 to 5 years were observed for a year. The researchers focused on the reading and language skills of the children. The results of the study showed that parental reading to children as few as three days per week had a positive effect on the child’s reading and cognitive skills later in life. (Reading to Young Children: A Head-Start in Life).

In another study, published in Pediatrics Magazine, the researchers looked at the impact of parents reading aloud to their children and how that activity relates to child development. The study looked at educational child care centers which operated in low income areas. The centers in the study held monthly workshops for parents focused on helping parents to understand the benefits of reading aloud to their child. The centers also provided books that the parents could borrow and use in their homes. At the end of the study the language, cognitive, social-emotional development of the children whose parents had attended the sessions was measured. The results showed that the children from the families who had been the most engaged in the training had the highest cognitive stimulation and development. When compared with parents who had not gone through the training, the educational center parents demonstrated a higher quantity and quality of reading time with their children (Weisleder, 2018).

The research clearly shows that reading to children has many benefits, both to the parent and the child. The benefit extends across many different disciplines, including literacy, language, and the social-emotional development of the child. This is a topic which fits well with Interdisciplinary Studies since the ability to read is a life-long skill that is critical for success in almost every job type found in today’s economy. Finding new ways to encourage parents to read to their children on a regular basis is a goal that I have as I look to enter the workforce after graduation.

References

Bonfiglio, C. (2017, October 19). 10 Benefits that Highlight the Importance of Reading for Young Children. Retrieved April 18, 2018, from https://bilingualkidspot.com/2017/10/19/benefits-importance-reading-young-children/

Harper, S., Platt, A., & Pelletier, J. (2011). Unique Effects of a Family Literacy Program on the Early Reading Development of English Language Learners. Early Education and Development, 22(6), 989-1008. Retrieved April 18, 2018.

Kelley, M. (2004). Journal of Research in Childhood Education. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 18(3). Retrieved April 17, 2018.

Morin, A. (n.d.). Reading Skills: What to Expect at Different Ages. Retrieved April 20, 2018, from https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/signs-symptoms/age-by-age-learning-skills/reading-skills-what-to-expect-at-different-ages

Reading and Literacy in Children. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2018, from https://www.mottchildren.org/posts/your-child/reading-and-literacy-children

Reading to Young Children: A Head-Start in Life. (n.d.). Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Retrieved April 17, 2018.

Repko, A. (2014). Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies. Las Angeles, CA: Sage.

Weisleder, A. (2018). Reading Aloud and Child development. Pediatrics, 141(1). Retrieved April 20, 2018.