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Mother–child joint writing and storybook reading and their effects on kindergartners’ literacy: an intervention study

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Abstract

This study assessed the effects of three different intervention programs on low-SES mother–child joint activities and on their kindergarten-age children’s progress in early literacy and language. Parents in three groups (119 mothers, 5 fathers) were coached to mediate child learning, respectively, in: interactive storybook reading, writing, or visuomotor skills. A group-specific workshop was followed by 7 weeks of tri-weekly structured dyadic interactions and weekly tutorial home visits. A fourth group (control) received no intervention. Results showed implementation success: Mothers coached in interactive storybook reading or writing mediation improved in the coached activity from pretest to immediate posttest and to delayed posttest. Interactive storybook reading improved less for older than younger children, whereas writing mediation improved more for older than younger children. No transfer emerged from one activity to the other: Coaching on reading had no effect on writing or visuomotor skills, and coaching of writing had an effect only on writing. Children’s alphabetic skills were enhanced in the writing mediation-coached group, whereas linguistic competencies, unexpectedly, were not enhanced in the interactive storybook reading-coached group. The significance of writing mediation as a dyadic activity promoting literacy is emphasized.

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Acknowledgments

The authors extend their thanks to the Israeli Academy of Science for supporting this study, to Limor Nuhi, Netanel Kabala, Sivan Shatil-Karmon, and Sigalit Aviram for their contributions to the study, and to Dee Ankonina for her editorial assistance. We would also like to express our appreciation to the parents and children in the study for their trust in us and their investment of work in the intervention.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Constantiner School of Education, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Iris Levin & Dorit Aram

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  1. Iris Levin
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  2. Dorit Aram
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Correspondence to Iris Levin.

Appendices

 

Appendix A Descriptions and examples of categories coded for mother–child dialogues
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Appendix B Descriptions and examples of maternal behaviors coded for mother–child enhancing dialogues
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Appendix C Scores and descriptions of maternal grapho-phonemic and printing mediation scales (ordinal)
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Levin, I., Aram, D. Mother–child joint writing and storybook reading and their effects on kindergartners’ literacy: an intervention study. Read Writ 25, 217–249 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-010-9254-y

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