Parental Teaching-to-Read Practices and Children’s Reading Literacy in Russia according to PIRLS2011

Abstract

It is well known that reading literacy of a child is related to the family cultural capital. Parents involvement in their children education is what explains this relationship to a large extent. In this paper, we analyze what teaching practices parents of different cultural capital choose to teach their children to read before school and in the fourth grade. For this purpose, we use PIRLS2011 data. Formal (ABC games, word games, writing) and informal (reading together, discussing a book, storytelling) practices are explored. We find that parents with different level of education choose different teaching-to-read strategies. College-educated parents engage in their children preschool education more often and prefer informal practices. They are also more likely to use a compensation strategy if their children do not attend a kindergarten. Lower-educated parents support their child’s reading more actively in the fourth grade. Their preschool support is largely restricted to the reinforcement strategy of involvement in learning — they are more involved if their child attends a kindergarten. This paper also investigates the relationship between various teaching-toread practices and children’s reading literacy before school and at the fourth grade.