HOME AND FAMILY INFLUENCES ON MOTIVATIONS FOR READING

This article reviews the growing literature on home and family influen ces on children's motivations for reading. Children whose early encoun ters with literacy are enjoyable are more likely to develop a predispo sition to read frequently and broadly in subsequent years. Young child ren's self-initiated interactions with print at home are important beh avioral indexes of emerging motivations for reading. Shared storybook reading plays an important role in promoting reading motivations; when the socioemotional climate is positive, children are more interested in reading and more likely to view it as enjoyable. The beliefs held b y children's parents about the purposes of reading and how children le arn to read relate to children's motivations for reading. Parents who believe that reading is a source of entertainment have children with m ore positive views about reading than do parents who emphasize the ski lls aspect of reading development. These findings have important impli cations for offering guidance to parents and for the development of fa mily literacy intervention programs.