Abstract
This study was carried out to examine some of the factors influencing early reading skills among pre-school children in selected nursery schools in Ondo State, Nigeria. Descriptive research design of the correlation type was used. A self-developed questionnaire was administered to identify and measure reading skills and factors influencing their development. Randomly selected 100 teachers and 200 parents (a total number of 300 respondents) from 10 purposively selected private and public nursery schools participated in the study. The results obtained revealed significant factors associated with early reading skills. The findings also indicated the significant correlation between learning environment in the classroom and early reading skills (r=0.29; p<0.05), the significant correlation between home learning environment and early reading skills (r=0.29; p<0.05), and the significant correlation between peer group influence and early reading skills of pre-school age children (r=0.22; p<0.05). The study concluded that conducive learning environment in school and at home are important factors that can significantly improve development of reading skills at early childhood period. It was also established that children with higher abilities can positively challenge and influence another child’s skills development. Based on the above findings, the study recommended that educators and parents should always remember to take care of conducive learning environment for pre-school children by providing stimulating atmosphere that enhances all-round development. Peer group influence should be also considered as it may play a positive role in child’s development of early reading skills.
Highlights
The critical importance of the first few years of children’s life in shaping their future achievements is widely recognised
Research Hypothesis One: There is no significant correlation between learning environment in the classroom and early reading skills
This means that there was a significant correlation between learning environment in the classroom and early reading skills of children participated in the study as reported by respondents
Summary
The critical importance of the first few years of children’s life in shaping their future achievements is widely recognised. Many researchers established the fact that skill development is a dynamic process which builds on earlier skill levels [1]. Bodrova [5] remarked that educators in countries across the globe face the same pressure to start exposing children to academic skills at a progressively younger age. This pressure is largely caused by the concerns about children not being ready for school as well as concerns about children falling behind in their later learning outcomes. There must be certain prerequisites acquired by the child before formal schooling, and one of those prerequisites are reading skills
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