Interactions with children instead of screen time can enhance reading skills
You might have seen the troubling news that reading scores are at a historic low, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the nation’s report card. In Georgia, roughly 70% of children are not reading proficiently in fourth grade.
These numbers aren’t just statistics; they represent real children whose futures are vulnerable because of their inability to read proficiently. Students not reading proficiently by fourth grade are at high risk of dropping out of high school, experiencing low employment and incarceration.
Research on reading interventions has shown that school-age children can be taught to decode words — much like the familiar “sound it out” approach many of us learned decades ago. But decoding alone is not sufficient.
Children must be able to make meaning from what they read to comprehend and engage with text. Unfortunately, many children enter school with weak background knowledge and vocabulary, which makes comprehension challenging, even when they can decode words.
The great news is that every parent has the capacity to address this. Helping children understand what they read begins long before kindergarten.
Starting in infancy, children build the language and knowledge that make later reading meaningful. But this only happens if they receive adequate language nutrition, that is, they are exposed to a lot of talk. Exposure to rich early-language environments is highly predictive of child reading outcomes later.
We are facing a growing early literacy crisis. Just as children most need to be immersed in rich, language-filled environments, they are now growing up in a world saturated with screens. More parents are using screens to occupy their young children, but passive screen time cannot replace the rich, interactive experiences that build a strong language foundation.
When children spend hours in front of screens, they miss out on essential opportunities to build vocabulary, background knowledge and the deep understanding of language that forms the foundation of school success. Even worse, excessive screen exposure is linked to poorer outcomes for young children.
So, what is the solution?
Talking with your child, introducing new words and sharing experiences — like cooking together, visiting the park or looking at picture books — gives them the background they’ll use to make sense of stories and information later.
When children enter school with a strong foundation in language and vocabulary, they’re much more ready to move from sounding out words to truly understanding and enjoying what they read.
The quality of language children receive matters too. Mere exposure to language, like people talking on the radio or TV, won’t build robust language skills. The way to set your young child on a path to reading success is through rich, consistent and face-to-face engagement, while minimizing screen time.
Here are some strategies for success:
- Share and discuss stories with your children. Don’t simply read the book but build conversations around the story by discussing the pictures and connecting the story to their own experiences.
- Engage in back-and-forth talk — “serve and return” — to show how conversations work.
- Narrate life, point out what you see around you, describe items at the grocery store.
- Follow your child’s lead, explain what they show interest in
- Sing and rhyme while cleaning, bathing or feeding.
- Avoid screen time completely for children under 18 months.
- Use Baby Navigator, a free online tool, to track your child’s social communication development over the first 18 months.
Don’t:
- Replace physical activity or face-to-face interactions with technology, because of its negative effect on memory, sleep, attention and more.
- Be afraid to look silly; “parentese” really works.
- Worry about saying the wrong thing; loving interactions are key.
You, as parents and caregivers, are your child’s first and most consistent teacher. Your investment in language and loving interaction with your child is the fuel for their future success.
Lindee Morgan is the executive director of the Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy at Georgia College & State University.
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