Emergent literacy skills, behavior problems and familial antecedents of reading difficulties: a follow-up study of reading achievement from kindergarten to fifth grade

Associations between dyslexia and children's mental health: Findings from a follow-up study in China

Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that can lead to adverse health outcomes and socioeconomic difficulties. Evidence from longitudinal studies on the association between dyslexia and psychological symptoms in children is limited. Moreover, the psychological trends of children with dyslexia are unclear. In this study, we enrolled 2,056 students in Grades 2 to 5, including 61 dyslexic children, who participated in three mental health surveys and dyslexia screening. All the children were surveyed for symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression. We used generalized estimating equation models to estimate changes in psychological symptoms of children with dyslexia over time and the association between dyslexia and psychological symptoms. The results showed that dyslexia was associated with stress and depressive symptoms in children in both crude (β = 3.27, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.89∼4.65], β=1.20, 95%CI: [0.45∼1.94], respectively) and adjusted models (β = 3.32, 95%CI: [1.87∼4.77], β=1.31, 95%CI: [0.52∼2.10], respectively). In addition, we found no significant differences in the emotional status of dyslexic children in either survey. Dyslexic children are at risk for mental health issues, and persistent emotional symptoms. Therefore, interventions regarding not only reading ability but also psychological conditions should be pursued.

Tracking Familial History of Reading and Math Difficulties in Children's Academic Outcomes

The current study aimed to investigate the extent to which familial history of reading and math difficulties have an impact on children's academic outcomes within a 3-year longitudinal study, which evaluated their core reading and math skills after first (N = 198; 53% girls) and second grades (N = 166), as well as performance on complex academic tasks after second and third grades (N = 148). At baseline, parents were asked to complete the Adult Reading History Questionnaire (ARHQ) and its adaption, Adult Math History Questionnaire (AMHQ), to index familial history of reading and math difficulties, respectively. Preliminary findings established the psychometric properties of the AMHQ, suggesting that it is a reliable and valid scale. Correlation analyses indicated that the ARHQ was negatively associated with children's reading skills, whereas the AMHQ was negatively related to math outcomes. Path results revealed that the ARHQ predicted children's performance on complex reading tasks indirectly via their core reading skills, and the AMHQ was linked to complex math outcomes indirectly via core math abilities. The ARHQ was also found to be negatively correlated with measures of children's math performance, with path findings suggesting that these relations were indirectly explained by differences in their core reading skills. These results suggest that assessing familial risk for academic difficulties may be crucial to understanding comorbid etiological and developmental associations between reading and math differences.

Associations of language-based bedtime routines with early cognitive skills and academic achievement: A follow-up from kindergarten to middle school

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate the extent to which language-based bedtime routines (LBR) reported by parents before kindergarten were associated with early cognitive skills at kindergarten and subsequent academic achievement in typically developing children.

METHOD

We followed a community-based sample of 664 French-speaking adolescents from kindergarten (5-6 years) to the end of middle school (15 years). Kindergarten measures included a parental questionnaire aimed at assessing the presence or absence of any kind of LBR, such as storytelling, looking at children's books, reading a story, listening to songs, or singing nursery rhymes, as well as family contextual characteristics. Children also performed standardized assessments of oral language, pre-reading skills, and non-verbal reasoning. In middle school, children sat a national diploma typically used as an indicator of general academic achievement in Grade 9.

RESULTS

After adjusting for family characteristics, the presence of language-based bedtime routines (57%) predicted cognitive-academic skills in kindergarten, and was positively associated with academic achievement at Grade 9, related to the beneficial effect on children's vocabulary in kindergarten.

CONCLUSION

The presence of language-based bedtime routines may provide an indicator of positive parental behaviour including exposure to literacy activities, contributing to children's early cognitive development and subsequent academic achievement.

Prediction of Reading and Writing in Elementary Education through Early Childhood Education

Abstract The study investigated the predictive role of executive functions, language, initial reading and writing abilities, teacher’s perception of the students’ difficulties and family characteristics, evaluated in Early Childhood Education (ECE) (Jardim I and Jardim II), in relation to reading and writing performance in the first year of Elementary Education. A total of 71 children were monitored in a longitudinal manner from ECE up to the first year, and evaluated in Oral Language (OL), Executive Functions (EF), initial Reading and Writing skills in ECE and, in the first year, evaluated by means of Reading and Writing tests. Parents provided information on socioeconomic status (SES) and teachers indicated children with difficulties. After the data imputation process, regression tree analysis showed that OL skills and initials skills of reading and writing in ECE explained a mean of 43% of the reading variability in the first year. For writing, the models also included performances in EF, income, father’s age and indication of difficulty by the teacher in ECE, explaining a mean of 78% of the variability in writing in the first year. The results allowed identifying abilities and variables that can be considered precursors of subsequent performances in Elementary Education, providing guidance for actions of early identification and intervention.

Phonological awareness and early reading and writing abilities in early childhood education: preliminary normative data

ABSTRACT Objective: to provide preliminary normative data for the Reading and Writing Test by type of school, and normative data for the Phonological Awareness Test by Oral Production for private schools and update their normative data available for public schools, all of which are for children in the final year of early childhood education. Methods: 267 children, in the age range of 5 years, and typical development. Identification Questionnaire for Parents, Phonological Awareness Test by Oral Production and Reading and Writing Test were used. The means of performance in the tests of the present sample were compared with the existing normative data to justify normative data provision and updating. Results: Student’s t-test revealed that the private school children outperformed those of the public schools in all measures, reinforcing the need for specific standards, according to the type of school. There were strong to very strong relationships among the variables evaluated, demonstrating a marked association between phonological awareness and initial reading and writing abilities. The Wilcoxon test revealed significant differences between the performance of the children of the present study, from both private and public schools, and the data from the Phonological Awareness Test by Oral Production standardization sample, suggesting the need to update the Phonological Awareness Test by Oral Production standards. Finally, the new normative data were presented. Conclusion: the need to make available and update the test standards used, according to the type of school, was confirmed. Further studies are necessary to expand the data presented to other age groups.

Linguagem oral e escrita na Educação Infantil: relação com variáveis ambientais

Resumo O estudo investigou a relação de variáveis ambientais (nível socioeconômico, ambiente familiar e frequência à pré-escola) com vocabulário em pré-escolares e desempenho posterior em leitura/escrita. Participaram 68 crianças (Idade média = 4,4 anos) de uma escola pública de Educação Infantil e suas respectivas famílias. Utilizou-se o Teste de Vocabulário Auditivo; pais responderam a um questionário de identificação e à escala ABEP. O inventário HOME foi utilizado para a coleta de informação sobre o ambiente familiar. Seis meses depois, o Teste de Leitura e Escrita foi aplicado. Houve melhor desempenho em vocabulário e em leitura/escrita com a progressão escolar e relação moderada entre essas variáveis. Escolaridade materna relacionou-se ao vocabulário e o tempo de frequência à pré-escola com a escrita. Aspectos específicos do ambiente familiar, como os estilos de interação e variedade de estimulação, associaram-se com vocabulário receptivo. O estudo colabora com a investigação sobre como variáveis do meio podem associar-se ao desenvolvimento linguístico infantil.

Tinfolec: A New French Web-Based Test for Reading Assessment in Primary School

The goal of the experiment was to examine the relevance of a new French web-based assessment, Tinfolec (Test INFOrmatisé d’évaluation de la LECture), the aim of which is to evaluate the reading abilities of children in primary grades. The participants were 1,016 children from Grades 2 to 5. They completed the five tasks of Tinfolec designed to assess the efficiency of the two procedures used to identify written words (the nonlexical route and the lexical orthographic route). We tested the reliability and validity of the new tool in a subsection of this sample. Correlational analyses provided evidence of the reliability and validity of Tinfolec. The results are consistent with the conventionally observed effect of lexical factors (length, consistency, and frequency) on written word processing. The results confirm the relevance of the proposed tasks. The study produced promising results and would allow practitioners to perform online assessments of reading skills.

Emergent Literacy in Thai Preschoolers: A Preliminary Study

OBJECTIVE

To investigate emergent literacy skills, including phonological awareness when presented with an initial phoneme-matching task and letter knowledge when presented with a letter-naming task in Thai preschoolers, and to identify key factors associated with those skills.

METHODS

Four hundred twelve typically developing children in their final kindergarten year were enrolled in this study. Their emergent reading skills were measured by initial phoneme-matching and letter-naming tasks. Determinant variables, such as parents' education and teachers' perception, were collected by self-report questionnaires.

RESULTS

The mean score of the initial phoneme-matching task was 4.5 (45% of a total of 10 scores). The mean score of the letter-naming task without a picture representing the target letter name was 30.2 (68.6% of a total of 44 scores), which increased to 38.8 (88.2% of a total of 44 scores) in the letter-naming task when a picture representing the target letter name was provided. Both initial phoneme-matching and letter-naming abilities were associated with the mother's education and household income. Letter-naming ability was also influenced by home reading activities and gender.

CONCLUSION

This was a preliminary study into emergent literacy skills of Thai preschoolers. The findings supported the importance of focusing on phonological awareness and phonics, especially in the socioeconomic disadvantaged group.

Development of Tract-Specific White Matter Pathways During Early Reading Development in At-Risk Children and Typical Controls

Developmental dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a strong genetic basis. Previous studies observed white matter alterations in the left posterior brain regions in adults and school-age children with dyslexia. However, no study yet has examined the development of tract-specific white matter pathways from the pre-reading to the fluent reading stage in children at familial risk for dyslexia (FHD+) versus controls (FHD-). This study examined white matter integrity at pre-reading, beginning, and fluent reading stages cross-sectionally ( n = 78) and longitudinally (n = 45) using an automated fiber-tract quantification method. Our findings depict white matter alterations and atypical lateralization of the arcuate fasciculus at the pre-reading stage in FHD+ versus FHD- children. Moreover, we demonstrate faster white matter development in subsequent good versus poor readers and a positive association between white matter maturation and reading development using a longitudinal design. Additionally, the combination of white matter maturation, familial risk, and psychometric measures best predicted later reading abilities. Furthermore, within FHD+ children, subsequent good readers exhibited faster white matter development in the right superior longitudinal fasciculus compared with subsequent poor readers, suggesting a compensatory mechanism. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of white matter pathway maturation in the development of typical and atypical reading skills.