29. Justice and the Politics of Difference

Educators frequently recommend that children read aloud to parents at home in the belief that the activity will positively contribute to children's literacy growth.From a research perspective, however, little is known about these at-home reading experiences.Using a social constructivist theoretical perspective, the present study investigated the relationships between children's reading ability, children's sex, mothers' educational level, and mothers' helping behaviors during children's at-home oral reading practice.Seventy-six mother-child pairs from a suburban, middle-class community participated in the project.Accelerated and at-risk third grade readers took home a tape recorder and a third grade science…