Parents modify the home literacy environment according to their children's progress in learning to read

Research across a wide range of languages shows that children's home literacy environment can often predict their language and literacy skills. However few studies, especially for English speaking children, examine how children's development affects what parents do and not just how parents affect their children's development. A new longitudinal study examined such bidirectional relationships between home literacy environment and children's progress in learning to read between grades 1 and 3. Results show that parents adjust their reading activities with their children over time, taking into account the level of difficulty the children are having in learning to read. These findings raise the important possibility that teachers could give more specific guidance to parents to help shape the home literacy environment according to children's progress in learning to read.