Home factors for critical reading skills among parents of fourth, sixth, and eighth graders

Abstract

Given the current flux of information of varying quality and trustworthiness, critical reading skills (e.g., evaluating, comparing, and integrating information and related sources) are needed from an early age. While there is evidence that many parents support their children’s basic reading skills by teaching decoding or by reading books with their children, it is less clear how critical reading skills are supported at home during later school years. To address this gap, this study examined the prevalence, variability, and factor structure of a parental questionnaire on the home factors for critical reading using data from Finland. In addition, we investigated the roles of the child’s and parent’s genders, parents’ education levels, and the amount of reading materials at home in explaining the home factors for critical reading. To this end, parents of fourth graders (nG4 = 149), sixth graders (nG6 = 213), and eighth graders (nG8 = 226) responded to a questionnaire. The results suggested that, although on average, parents provided support for their children’s critical reading at each grade level, there was also variability across families. Differences between samples were limited to items related to media use; however, the factor structures differed across samples. The amount of reading materials at home was positively associated with the home factors for critical reading at each grade level. Together, these results indicate that the home factors for critical reading are present in Grades 4–8 but shifts structurally with age; moreover, access to print consistently relates to supportive practices.