Bedtime stories may not teach reading

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

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.

© 2005 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
Scientist hopes warming summit will fail (3 min)
Bernanke defends Fed, warts and all (4 min)
Man names self after potato chips (6 min)
World Cup champion will get $30M (8 min)
Online help for families facing divorce (13 min)
NASA'S WISE spacecraft ready for launch (15 min)
Wal-Mart settles worker lawsuit for $40M (19 min)
fark
If there was any doubt as to which list William C. Caldwell III of Georgia is on, it was eliminated...
More unidentified voters surface at Illiinois cemetery
Screw you, loafers, homeless people and wishing wells
Power of Fark combines with power of attorney to touch children. Wait
Criticize the Iranian government on the streets of Tehran, get clubbed. Criticize them on Facebook...
The cheesification of the Wall Street Journal is complete, with this utterly vapid article on male...