Shared book reading and preschool children's academic achievement: Evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth cohort

Abstract

This paper examines the relationships among the quality and quantity of parent–child shared book reading (SBR) engagements and children's reading and mathematics outcomes in preschool. Additionally, we explore how child and family characteristics predict the quality and quantity of SBR. Quantity was measured using parental reports of the frequency of SBR. Quality was measured by observational protocols evaluating for questioning, vocabulary, and discussion depth. A structural equation model was estimated using data from a nationally representative sample of 700 children living in the United States from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth cohort. Results indicated that the quality of book reading was associated with children's mathematics outcomes, and the quantity was associated with reading outcomes controlling for contextual variables. Socioeconomic status, race or ethnicity, and children's age predicted the quality and quantity of book reading experiences. These findings indicate that frequent exposure to high‐quality book reading may positively impact children's mathematics and reading development, but that variation in SBR exists. SBR is a common practice among many parents; helping parents understand the multiple benefits of the practice may further increase the frequency and quality of the engagement. Implications for research and practice are addressed. Highlights This paper describes the relationship between parental book reading practices, mathematics, and reading outcomes. Structural equation models reveal relationships between the quantity of book reading and children's reading outcomes, as well as the quality of book reading and children's mathematics outcomes. High‐quality book reading may positively impact academic achievement in multiple domains, but results may vary based on contextual factors.

The Effect of Mother–Child Reading Time on Children's Reading Skills: Evidence From Natural Within‐Family Variation

“…As such, if parental time difference is the driving mechanism between the differences by birth order and birth spacing, then we would expect the pattern to be stronger for reading scores than for math scores (despite the fact that reading and math skills are positively correlated; Duncan et al., ). Barnes and Puccioni () showed, in a large‐scale national sample, that absolute time in parent–child shared book reading was related to young children's vocabulary and reading test scores but not to their math test scores. Kalb and van Ours () similarly showed smaller (and less significant) effects of reading to children on children's numeracy skills and virtually no effects at all of parental reading to children on children's noncognitive skills.…”

“…A handful of recent studies aims to more rigorously test for linkages between amount of shared book reading and children's literacy‐related outcomes, either by drawing on large‐scale nationally representative data, or more rigorous statistical methods, or both. Barnes and Puccioni () relied on large‐scale nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Sample–Birth Cohort (ECLS‐B). In these data, 700 preschoolers participated in a video‐taped semistructured joint book reading interaction with a parent.…”

The Early Years Home Learning Environment – Associations With Parent-Child-Course Attendance and Children’s Vocabulary at Age 3

“…This points to the importance of the quality of these activities. Other studies, which partly use natural experiments, demonstrate that a sheer increase in joint reading is associated with advanced language skills (Barnes and Puccioni, 2017;Price and Kalil, 2019) which hints to the importance of frequency. However, note that we did not measure the quality of the activities we used for measuring the quantitative aspects of stimulation.…”

Moderation of parenting by inhibitory control in the prediction of the common and unique variance of hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattention

“…The first context was a joint reading activity. Joint reading activities are often used to observe parent–child interactions (e.g., Barnes & Puccioni, 2017; Bennetts, Mensah, Westrupp, Hackworth, & Reilly, 2016; Bergin, 2001; Crain-Thoreson, Dahlin, & Powell, 2001; de Jong & Leseman, 2001; Moretti, Shaw, & Fox, 2003). Three storybooks and an alphabet book were presented to the dyad.…”