Research Taster

Parents vary in the way they support their children’s reading at home. Evidence shows that some parents tend to be quite controlling when helping their children with school work . This parent’s description of how she supports her child is typical:

Mother: If she’s doing a story or in the flow of doing something, I think that’s good for her to keep that going, rather than be stopped and corrected.

Interviewer: How about reading, if she said ‘house’ instead of ‘home’… would you stop her there?

Mother: Yes I do. That’s the difference. I can’t help myself.

Your evidence 

What do you believe about correcting reading mistakes? Do you always put those beliefs into practice? You could make an audio-recording of the interaction between you and a pupil when you are listening to him/her read aloud. You could them consider your own approach to giving feedback, and how far you would want a child’s parent to give feedback in the same way.

Moving forward

The evidence highlights the importance of understanding and harnessing parents’ support for their child’s learning. In the light of your reflections are there any changes you would make to the advice you give parents on helping their children with their reading? Would you like parents to replicate your own classroom practices in their interactions with their child, or would you encourage other approaches which complement your work in school?

 Find out more

Find out more about the TLRP Home-school knowledge exchange project at: http://www.tlrp.org/project%20sites/HomeSchool/index.htm

Find out more about effective home-school liaisons at: http://www.gtce.org.uk/policyandresearch/research/ROMtopics/parentalrom/ or

http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/research/themes/parents/