From Stories at Bedtime to a Love of Reading: Parental Practices and Beliefs about Reading with Infants
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| Title: | From Stories at Bedtime to a Love of Reading: Parental Practices and Beliefs about Reading with Infants |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Suzanne M. Egan (ORCID |
| Source: | Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. 2025 25(1):158-184. |
| Availability: | SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 27 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Reading Aloud to Others, Infants, Parents, Parent Attitudes, Story Reading, Barriers, Psychological Patterns, Childrens Literature, Books, Correlation, Incidence, Child Development, Social Development, Emotional Development, Parent Child Relationship, Foreign Countries |
| Geographic Terms: | Ireland |
| DOI: | 10.1177/14687984221123710 |
| ISSN: | 1468-7984 1741-2919 |
| Abstract: | Although it is well established that reading with young children supports early language and literacy development, few studies have focused on the importance of parental beliefs about reading with infants. The current study, which sheds light on parental beliefs had three main aims. The first was to examine practices of shared reading in infancy (birth to 1 year old), while the second, sought to examine parents' views on benefits of and potential barriers to reading with infants. The third aim was to explore how parents' beliefs about reading, and their own enjoyment of reading, may influence the early home literacy environment they create for their infants. Drawing upon a mixed methods approach, comprising surveys and interviews with parents of infants (n = 31), this paper highlights the importance of parents' own enjoyment of reading. The findings, which are considered from a bioecological perspective, indicate that parents' enjoyment of reading was significantly and positively associated with the number of children's books in their home, and the frequency of reading with their infant, as well as their hope for their child's future enjoyment of reading. Parents noted that one of the main benefits of reading with their infants related to socio-emotional development and the one-to-one time, rather than the language and literacy benefits, which constitute the focus of much research in this area. The findings further point to an intergenerational transfer of a love of reading. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1466333 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Although it is well established that reading with young children supports early language and literacy development, few studies have focused on the importance of parental beliefs about reading with infants. The current study, which sheds light on parental beliefs had three main aims. The first was to examine practices of shared reading in infancy (birth to 1 year old), while the second, sought to examine parents' views on benefits of and potential barriers to reading with infants. The third aim was to explore how parents' beliefs about reading, and their own enjoyment of reading, may influence the early home literacy environment they create for their infants. Drawing upon a mixed methods approach, comprising surveys and interviews with parents of infants (n = 31), this paper highlights the importance of parents' own enjoyment of reading. The findings, which are considered from a bioecological perspective, indicate that parents' enjoyment of reading was significantly and positively associated with the number of children's books in their home, and the frequency of reading with their infant, as well as their hope for their child's future enjoyment of reading. Parents noted that one of the main benefits of reading with their infants related to socio-emotional development and the one-to-one time, rather than the language and literacy benefits, which constitute the focus of much research in this area. The findings further point to an intergenerational transfer of a love of reading. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1468-7984 1741-2919 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/14687984221123710 |
