ON THE EFFICACY OF READING TO PRESCHOOLERS

We review more than three decades of empirical research pertaining to the hypothesized influence of parent-preschooler reading experiences on the development of language and literacy skills. The literature provides evidence for this association, although the magnitudes of the observed effects have been quite variable within and between samples and, on average, have been unexpectedly modest. Demographic, attitudinal, and skill differences among preschoolers all apparently made stronger direct contributions to prediction in investigations that permitted such comparisons. Implications of the findings for theory and research on literacy acquisition, for educational practice, and for parental guidance are discussed. (C) 1994 Academic Press Inc.