Influence Of Parental Involvement On Performance Of Children Aged 5-6 Years In Kiswahili Reading Comprehension In Public Preschools In Athi-River Zone, Machakos County, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of parental involvement on performance of children aged 5-6 years in Kiswahili reading comprehension in public preschools in Athi- River Zone, Machakos County. Four research objectives guided the study. They aimed at first determining the extent to which parental involvement in storybook reading and shared reading activities influenced children’s performance in Kiswahili reading comprehension, secondly assess the extent to which frequency of both select Kiswahili story book reading and shared reading activities between parent and child at home and lastly to determine the extent to which this involvement influenced performance of preschool children in Kiswahili reading comprehension test. The study adopted the quasi-experimental research design to find out the influence of parental involvement in children’s reading at home on preschool children’s performance in Kiswahili reading comprehension. The sample size comprised of 100 preschool parents, 100 preschool pupils and four preschool teachers. Data were collected using interview guides, pre and post preschool reading comprehension test, school archival data and parent’s focus group discussion guides. Reliability of research instruments stood at (r=0.84) signifying that the instruments were reliable. Findings on the influence of parental involvement in reading select Kiswahili story books with the children at home on children’s performance in Kiswahili reading comprehension reveal that parental involvement at baseline was wanting. However, after the commencement of the experiment, they had good progress in reading with the children at home, they had established daily routines of reading with their children, they came up with many shared reading activities, had purchased more Kiswahili story books with most homes having between 15-20 story books and some above 20. Majority of parents read to the children and were the initiators of reading sessions in the home other than the children themselves. However time constraints, poor reading environment as indicated by 60% of parents from the experimental group and ignorance were some of the major challenges they faced. Involving other family members in reading activities and cooperating with the teachers were some of the strategies to overcome these challenges. The results on frequency of parental involvement in reading select story books with the children indicated that 64% and 60% of parents from the control and experimental group respectively rarely read to their children at baseline. The findings also indicated an increase in the frequency and number of shared reading activities between the parents and their children at end line as indicated by 42% of parents who did it very frequently and 40% frequently. Findings also revealed that parental involvement in children’s reading at home had a positive influence on development of reading comprehension and other reading skills in that parents and teacher noted an improvement in children’s comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, speed among others. Parental involvement on children’s performance in Kiswahili reading comprehension was positive as measured by the pre and post test results which indicated statistically 2.5 in the mean scores of children from experimental who performed better than the control group. Based on the findings the study recommended that the government through the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development should come up with workshops, seminars, training sessions and a reading manual to guide parents on meaningful indulgence in their children’s reading at home. The study further recommended mobilization of stakeholders to establish community libraries to make books available to more families.