A Study Of Parents’ Guiding Behavior In Early Parent-child Joint Reading

The present study aims at investigating the parents’ guiding behavior in early parent-child joint reading. By investigating the participation of649parents of children from five kindergartens in Fuzhou, Fujian province, adopting methods of questionnaire, interviews and observation, the present study assesses the effect of parents’ guidance on early parent-child joint reading, based on which we identify the problems and their causes. Finally we attempt to suggest some possible solutions.This study shows:(1)The parent-child joint reading questionnaire used in the study consists of four dimensions:prior-reading preparation, reading guidance, extended reading, and children’s reaction. The item analysis, exploratory factor analysis and reliability&validity test guarantee its efficiency as our evaluation instrument.(2)The average score yielded with all parts either taken together or treated separately is slightly above the critical value. Prior-reading preparation is the part where the subjects got the highest score, then followed by children’s reaction, reading guidance and extended reading in turn. But the standard deviation of the overall and each part’s average score shows a marked dispersion tendency of data. This result points to a comparatively notable difference among individuals.(3)In terms of gender and parents’ educational background, there is no significant difference. However, when it comes to the grade, significant differences in prior-reading preparation and reading guidance emerge. Similarly, remarkable difference between different kinds of picture books exists in total score and dimensions to which guidance is given.(4) Pooling all the results got from questionnaire, observation and interview in view, we point out that the main problems about parents’ guidance behavior in early parent-child joint reading are as follows:before reading, parents do not prepare sufficiently; during reading, parents’ guidance is not scientific, interesting and interactive enough; after reading, parents have no idea about how to extend the reading and children’s reactions are also varied. With regard to the underlying causes, they fall into following categories:parents do not take parent-child joint reading seriously; parents have little knowledge about the reading material---picture book; parents’ guidance does not conform to rules of children’s reading development; parents lack understanding of the nature of parent-child joint reading, etc.(5)Educational proposals:we should help parents to deepen their understanding about parent-child joint reading, including its significance, its nature and the reading material; to master the rule of children’s development and provide guidance accordingly; and to improve their guiding skills like stimulating children’s interests, fostering children’s independent reading, arrange proper extension activities and ensuring the joint time.