image credit: progressive bedtime story party, via flickr

An Ohio State University study which was recently published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry shows just how important environment can be when it comes to developing early literacy skills. The study, which followed the development of reading skills in 135 identical twins and 179 same-sex fraternal twins over the course of two years, showed that “environment is almost completely responsible for the growth of reading skills that are taught, such as words and letters, and 80% responsible for growth in awareness of sounds in reading.” According to researcher Stephen Petrill, “Regardless of where children start as far as reading skills, and the impact that genetics and environment had on their initial skills, we found that their environment had an impact on how fast or how slowly those reading skills developed.”

These results of this study may not come as a surprise, but many parents are left asking themselves what they can do to create the healthiest environment possible for their children’s budding reading skills. This can be an especially daunting question in bilingual homes, where parents are already making the extra effort to help their children learn two or more languages at the same time. How can a busy parent in today’s hectic society make sure their child is getting the early literacy skills he needs?

At Bilingual Readers we believe one of the most important things you can do to create the kind of healthy environment that promotes early literacy skills is to read to and with your children on a daily basis. A 2007 study on shared parent-infant book reading by the Infant Toddler Specialists of Indiana showed that early parent-child book reading actually supports later language learning. Language development and early literacy skills go hand in hand, so by reading aloud to your children in both their languages you’ll not only be giving them the tools they’ll need to learn to read in the future, you’ll also be expanding their vocabulary and knowledge of the languages they’re learning right now. Just 15 to 20 minutes a day of reading time is all it takes to develop these skills and, more importantly, a love of reading that will last a lifetime.