Top of class at age 12 ... children read to by their parents as tots
READING, writing and arithmetic have always been seen as the basic building blocks for a good education.
But parents who teach their children “the three Rs” before they start school will be giving them a major advantage, a study has found.
Researchers claim that toddlers who are exposed to books at an early age will go on to do better at school.
Pre-schoolers whose parents regularly read to them and talk about books tend to do better at maths and literacy tests at the age of 12, according to a German study.
It is one of the first to detail the importance of early years home learning in a child’s development.
Researchers tracked the progress of 229 children from the age of three until they reached secondary school. The participants’ literacy and numeracy skills were tested annually between the ages of three and five, and again when they were 12 or 13.
The team found that children who were introduced to literacy, language and arithmetic skills in their early years gained higher marks in reading and maths at secondary school.
The study was led by Dr Simone Lehrl, of the University of Bamberg.
She said: “Our results underline the great importance of exposing children to books for development – not just in literacy, but numeracy too.
“Early language skills not only improve a child’s reading but also boost mathematical ability. Encouraging care-givers to engage with their children in direct literacy activities, shared book reading and advanced verbal interactions during reading – and to include language and mathematical content during these activities – should promote children’s reading and mathematical abilities in secondary school.
“Such experiences also lay a strong foundation for later school successes.”
Dr Lehrl told how formal literacy activities not only boosted language skills and reading comprehension but also improved numerical skills.
Exposing children to books at an early age and talking about numbers and counting was strongly associated with better maths results at secondary school.
Early learning sessions also improve children’s language skills, the study found.
Researchers looked at all kinds of factors for their study, including the type and frequency of literacy and numeracy activities, how many books were owned by parents and how often they would read to the child.
The findings were published in the journal, School Effectiveness And School Improvement.