Keep reading, parents!
We often write about the great results we see when using storybooks in intervention. I just stumbled across a great study that I wanted to share about how beneficial it is for parents to read to their kids in their native language. Huennekens & Xu (2010) studied the impact of cross-linguistic storybook intervention on English language development in preschoolers. Their findings speak to a question that parents ask us all the time:
Am I confusing my child by speaking and reading to him in my native language?
The answer:
No, you are helping him!
Here’s how the study worked. The researchers selected books that were available in the children’s home language (Spanish, in this case) and in English. Parents were asked to read the books in their native language. Meanwhile, during school hours, teachers read the same books in English. During the period of time that parents and teachers were reading the same books, these preschoolers increased the frequency of their utterances, increased the length of their utterances, and increased their use of spontaneous interactions in the classroom. So, to sum it up—when parents read to their children in Spanish, the children’s language skills in the English-speaking environment increased in frequency and complexity.
Keep reading, parents!
Sigue leyendo, padres!
الحفاظ على القراءة ، والآباء !
Continuez à lire , les parents !
Continuate a leggere, i genitori !
Great Bedtime Stories for Parents to Read with their Children
Rather than reinvent the wheel, Tuck.com has a great list of bedtime stories and suggestions for how to make the stories enjoyable. Great Bedtime Stories.
Literacy-Based Speech and Language Therapy Activities
