Date of Award
1992
Document Type
Practicum-NSU Access Only
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Early and Middle Childhood
Advisor
June S. Delano
Keywords
emergent literacy, family reading, parents as teachers, parent participation, parent role, preschool children, preschool education, reading aloud to others
Abstract
This practicum was designed to increase the amount of time parents spent reading aloud at home to their four-year-old children. It also attempted to increase the parents' modeling of reading themselves for pleasure. These changes would serve to enhance the young children's literacy development.
The writer developed newsletters to provide parents with information about the benefits of reading to their children. A classroom lending library was created to provide parents with developmentally appropriate books to read to their children. Popular magazines were made available to parents to enable the parents to model pleasurable reading. Data was collected through the use of surveys developed by the writer, teacher observations of the children's literacy development, and from feedback provided by the parents during parent-teacher conferences.
The results of the practicum were very encouraging. The three objectives were met: parents reported an increase in time spent reading to their children, most children showed an increase in literary awareness, and parents expressed positive comments about the program. The least effective component of the program was the attempt to increase the parents' role as reading models for their children.