Shared Book Reading

Parents Learned to Read Aloud "Properly." Their Children's Language Did Not Change

A preregistered, double-blind trial with 150 children gave every group the same 20 books and the same 5-times-a-week schedule — and only some parents the technique. Parent behavior changed dramatically. Child language did not.

What Your Hands Do During Read-Alouds May Shape Your Child's Vocabulary

Researchers observed 33 Head Start classrooms and coded the gestures teachers made while reading picture books to 306 four-year-olds. Classrooms where teachers used more meaning-focused gestures — like spreading their arms wide on “huge” — had children with higher end-of-year receptive vocabulary. The hand may open a second channel for kids who can’t yet catch every word.