Literacy in later childhood boosted by reading to three year olds, DCU finds

Reading to your child when they are three years old makes them more likely to be better at reading at age nine, according to a new Dublin City University-led study.

The study, led by Dr Sinéad McNally from the School of Language, Literacy & Early Childhood Education at the DCU Institute of Education, found that there was a link between reading with young children at age three, and providing access to books at home, and reading success six years later at age nine.

Titled “Indirect Effects of Early Shared Reading and Access to Books on Reading Vocabulary in Middle Childhood”, the study found that early reading and availability of books at home predicted higher reading scores at nine.

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According to the research, 28 per cent of the association between early shared reading and later reading outcomes was explained by an increased likelihood of reading for pleasure at ages seven and eight, which in turn predicted higher reading scores at nine.

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Parents who read to children as early as age three were also more likely to read to children at age five, and this shared reading predicted a greater likelihood that children would read for pleasure at age seven or eight, further supporting reading at age nine.

Access to books at three was also found by researchers to be associated with reading outcomes at nine.

Dr McNally said that increased motivation to engage in reading offered multiple opportunities for learning new words and complex language necessary for supporting literary skills in children.

“In our study, we found that both early shared reading and access to children’s books at home served to enhance children’s motivation to read which, in turn, supported later reading success,” she said.

“Thus, our findings suggest that early shared reading and access to books as early as age three has downstream effects for reading achievement and motivation later in school.

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“Our findings also suggest that large-scale book distribution programmes may be beneficial in Ireland,” the lead author added.

She also said the study highlighted the provision of books in early childhood was an effective way of supporting reading attainment, alongside “the added value of early shared reading in increasing the likelihood of later shared reading and reading for pleasure, and the provision of multiple opportunities for supporting early vocabulary and literacy skills”.