J. Murrey Atkins Library, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Abstract
Parents are encouraged to read books to their young children because of the impact book reading can have on later language and literacy development. However, few book-reading programs are designed for parents of culturally diverse backgrounds. The purpose of this article is to: (a) describe a book-reading intervention that was created for Latina mothers and their Head Start children, (b) provide an overview of the results, and (c) discuss the implications for teachers. In general, we found that the intervention had an effect on children’s language abilities. Children who received the intervention used more vocabulary words and produced longer utterances in language samples than children who were in the control group. Participating mothers appreciated that the program allowed them to share their culture with their children as well as to learn how to use interactive book reading strategies. Implications for practitioners are discussed
