Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Bedtime stories may not teach reading

|
|
 
  
Published: Nov. 6, 2005 at 9:57 PM
Advertisement

TORONTO, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- A new study shows that reading to toddlers is probably not teaching them how to read on their own.

While there are developmental benefits to story time, preschool children pay very little attention to the printed words on a page, the Toronto Globe and Mail reported.

To learn how to read, children must pay attention to the letters and recognize words, said University of Guelph psychology professor Mary Ann Evans. Her research, published in this month's issue of Psychological Science, found that preschoolers focused instead on the pictures.

Evans suggested that instead of simply reading a book to preschoolers, parents also point to letters in the book.

A previous study she conducted found that parents who read with their children, instead of to them, sped up development of reading skills later on in school, the newspaper said.

Topics: Mary Ann Evans
© 2005 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Notable deaths of 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee AmfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala
Indianapolis 500 Presidential Medal of Freedom Memorial Day around the nation
Additional Science News Stories
1 of 32
Marilyn Monroe Cupcake Portrait at Madame Tussauds in New York
View Caption
A one-of-a-kind 8 x 4 foot portrait of Marilyn Monroe made from 2,100 bite sized stuffed cupcakes stands in the lobby next to her wax figure on the eve of Marilyn Monroe's 86th birthday at Madame Tussauds in New York City on May 31, 2012. UPI/John Angelillo
fark
Is being a 29-year-old virgin really an accomplishment? Click the number at right for commentary...
Britain's NHS recommends cutting daily alcohol intake to just 1/4 of a pint. In related news, London's...
Canadian body-parts mailer is a serial kitten-killer and was romantically linked to serial rapist-murderer...
CNN Panics over slump in ratings, considering a Total CNN package for $ 5 bucks a month
Chicago's Soldier Field will host the Superbowl, except for one thing. Nope, not that
Aussie truck driver's answer to the age-old question "How do you get a sheep to push back?"