The role of a parent is crucial in fostering a connection between children and books. Parents play an essential role in this process, as they are the child’s primary guardians and educators. Every child possesses a latent talent that can be awakened through exposure to books. Starting as early as six months after a child’s birth, parents should focus on cultivating an interest in reading.
From six months to four years of age, parents take on the responsibility of teachers, helping to create a solid foundational love for learning. Their involvement is vital for the child’s overall education. By sharing educational and formative stories, engaging with beautifully illustrated books, and encouraging children to speak, recognize letters, and form words and sentences, parents can significantly enhance their child’s literacy skills.
However, many parents may lack the knowledge or experience to implement effective educational methods. Without a clear understanding of how to share stories and create engaging learning experiences, it can be challenging for them to adopt the right approach to educating their children.
According to researchers, the role of the home and parents in shaping a child’s early life is paramount. In a 1966 report by a commission formed by the United States Department of Education, Dr. Waite, chair of the committee, stated that school has a minimal impact on a child’s life development. Instead, a child’s social status and background play a crucial role in their development.
Three years after this commission’s report, in 1969, a scholar from the University of Chicago focused on the mental development of children in early life. He noted that more than 50 percent of children achieve full mental development by the age of 17, particularly when they receive the necessary support from their families before starting school.
Subsequently, Dr. Waite, of Harvard University provided a comprehensive account of how children’s early intelligence and mental development can be fostered in his book, “The First Three Years of the Child,” published in 1975. In this work, he emphasized that the first three years of a child’s life are critical for overall development, and it is not feasible to divide a child’s mental development into percentages. Rather, the goal is to achieve the well-being of the child and society as a whole.
The family can help in three main ways to instill reading habits in children:
1. Helping the child to learn to speak;
2. Helping the child to develop an interest in reading and print;
3. Providing adequate support to improve the child’s conversational skills and create a natural sense of.
Parents’ role in increasing children’s reading comprehension.
The role of parents to improving their kids’ reading comprehension: results of surveys:
A brief description of some of the survey projects undertaken to inform and play a role in parenting is given below:
- Under a project undertaken for after-school children in the Lewis Street District School, parents were invited to visit the school every Saturday of the week. The purpose of going to school together with the child and the child’s parents was to give the child’s guardian knowledge about how to lay the foundation for the child’s reading and to create interest in the children. On another day of the week, the school teacher would visit the child’s residence to meet the child’s parents and the child. During the visit, the teacher would present the child with a book to read and, while handing over this book, the teacher would give the child’s parents a clear idea of how to enjoy this book together with the child.
- Under a project on homeschooling in the Benton Harbor area of Michigan, parents are given the necessary training on how to teach their children at home. The knowledge gained from this training workshop helps parents create a suitable environment near the child’s residence and this training workshop helps each parent to become a competent home teacher. Every two weeks, the parents of the child were given a reading on a page to be learned from the child at home or at home. In this method, the parents were informed about this reading that the parents would teach the child through this training workshop. Through this method, the parents would collect the next reading after each reading of the course given by the school. As a result of this training given to the parents, the child’s reading skills increased significantly. After completing this project, the project manager mentioned in the report that with the help of this method, a sincere relationship between the child and the parent is created and the mixed activity of mutual dialogue creates a different background for the child to learn the language.
- A television program by the Los Angeles Unified School District has been successful. A series of programs were broadcast on television to educate parents about the methods of early childhood education. The program resulted in a series of programs on the subject. The program greatly increased the interest of local parents in developing reading habits in their children.
- A school in New Haven adopted a project that taught parents how to teach their children, how to apply this approach in their homes, and how to engage with their children. Under this workshop, parents were taught a special game that was suitable for teaching children about word formation and word usage.
- In 1972, the Orlando Florida Public Library initiated a special education program for 23,000 employees and teenagers to enjoy literature together with children. A training workshop was organized on how children learn to read, how to create a child’s interest in books and books. Every Saturday morning, the library organized a storytelling program for children. The children’s parents would attend this storytelling program to enjoy the stories. In addition, under this project, books suitable for children to read were selected by the library and the parents of the child were given necessary advice on how to involve the child in the selected books.
- Through a joint project involving the Loa County Library, the Teachers’ Association, and the county’s Department of Education, parents were encouraged to dedicate at least 15 minutes a day to their children’s self-education. Each parent received a list of suitable children’s books delivered to their home at the same time every day. Informative speeches highlighting the importance of instilling a reading habit in children, along with effective ways to do so, were broadcast on local radio and television stations. Additionally, five thousand bumper stickers were placed in prominent locations throughout the city, featuring the main slogan: “Your child should read at least 15 minutes a day.” Parents were also asked to keep a daily record of the books their children read. Those who participated in the program successfully helped their children complete their reading goals. The project organizers distributed certificates and prizes to these families.
The results of the project demonstrated that the foundation of each child’s education is laid from birth and significantly nurtured at home; this inner support relies on the dedicated efforts of parents and other family members.
