Home literacy helps kids build lifetime skills

SAN FRANCISCO - A new study shows that home literacy activities help children build long-term study and executive function skills, thus providing them with tools for lifetime success. To collect a range of ages and school experiences, the study followed two groups of students in public elementary schools near the University of Washington campus: one cohort from first to fifth grade, the other from third to seventh grade.

In all, 241 families participated over five years, completing annual questionnaires about how their child felt about reading and writing at home, whether for assignments or just for fun, what kinds of activities they engaged in at home, and what kind of help parents provided.

As the study was carried out by UW researchers and detailed in a paper published in the Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, the demographics of both cohorts reflected neighborhoods around the university: About 85 percent of students were white or Asian American, and three-fourths of parents had a bachelor's or advanced degree.