Newborn literacy program effective in increasing maternal engagement in literacy activities: an observational cohort study

BMC Pediatrics

Research Article

Stephanie Veldhuijzen van Zanten¹  Marilou Hervas-Malo²  Patrick J McGrath³  Chrystal Coates⁴ 

[1] Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada;Epicore Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada;IWK Health Centre, Canada Research Chair, Professor of Psychology, Pediatrics and Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada;SABA University School of Medicine, Saba, The Netherlands;

关键词: Literacy Skill;    Literacy Activity;    Passive Activity;    Prince Edward Island;    Queen Elizabeth Hospital;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2431-12-100

 received in 2011-09-24, accepted in 2012-07-16,  发布年份 2012

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundLiteracy is important for success in school and in adulthood. Book-gift programs at birth exist to help develop these foundations early on. The effectiveness of the Read to Me! Nova Scotia Family Literacy Program (a program where books and literacy materials are given to families in hospital when their baby is born) on the duration and frequency with which mothers engage in reading and other literacy based activities with their newborns was assessed.MethodsAn observational cohort study design was used. Mothers of babies who received the Read to Me! package in Nova Scotia born between January-August 2006 made up the intervention group (N = 1051). Mothers of babies born in Prince Edward Island between December 2006 and March 2008 made up the control group (N = 279) and did not receive any literacy package when their baby was born. A phone questionnaire was conducted consisting of questions regarding frequency and duration of maternal engagement in language and literacy-based activities with their infants. These activities included reading, singing, talking, listening to CDs and the radio and watching TV. Babies were aged 0–10 months at the time of the interview.ResultsMothers who received the Read to Me! literacy package spent significantly more time reading to their babies, 17.9 ± 17.6 min/day compared to controls 12.6 ± 10.7 min/day, (p < 0.0001).ConclusionsRead to Me! may be an inexpensive, easy to administer and effective intervention which results in increased shared reading of mothers and their newborns.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Veldhuijzen van Zanten et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012