Parent/Guardian Involvement in Child's Learning
Reading to young children promotes language development and sets the stage for reading comprehension and overall success in school. Reading and/or telling stories in any language helps to prepare young children for school.
• In a 2007 survey of King County households with young children, 84% reported that family members read aloud to their child(ren) ages 2 to 5 every day in the last week. (figure 1)
• 84% of King County families with young children either read or told stories to their young children every day in 2007. (figure 2)
• The percent reporting reading or telling stories rose in Seattle between 2001 and 2007. In 2007, the percentage in Seattle was higher than the North and South Regions. Although the percentages in the other regions appear to have changed, these changes are not statistically significant.
• Children in households in which respondents have graduated from college were more likely to have been read to every day than those in homes in which respondents have only a high school level of education or less.(figure 3)
• Children in households with incomes $50,000 or higher were more likely to be read or told stories every day than children in households with lower incomes, although the difference was not statistically significant. (figure 4)
• Children in households with parents in a couple relationship were more likely to have this parental involvement than other children.
• There were no significant differences by race or age of respondents.
Data Source, Definitions, and Limitations
Local data are from the King County Community Health Survey, 2001, 2004, and 2007. Respondents came from both a random sample of all households, and a random sample of households with children ages birth to five. In each case, the respondent was the person who knew most about the child(ren)’s care. In 2007, this telephone survey of adults living in King County was conducted in Spanish as well as English for the first time. The limitations of an English- and Spanish-only telephone survey include the following: a) people who do not have a land line telephone or who do not speak English or Spanish are excluded, and b) people who have less education and lower incomes are underrepresented.
