Professional paper
READING OUT LOUD TO PARENTAL VOLUNTEERS IN THE „CASTELLI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL“, GROTTAFERRATA, ROME (ITALY)
Daniela Novoselić
; Alfa d.d. za izdavačke,trgovačke i grafičke poslove, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Damir Domišljanović
; Alfa d.d. za izdavačke, trgovačke i grafičke poslove, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Irella Bogut
; Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku, Učiteljski fakultet u Osijeku, Hrvatska
Abstract
Effective parent involvement in classroom activities is an important factor in determining the educational efficiency of a school. Parents want to see their children succeed and are willing to seek any aids necessary to help their children attain knowledge in specific educational subjects or skills. However, studies have shown that the direct inclusion of parents into classroom activities greatly affects the academic success of students, resulting in an increase of motivation and proficiency and a decrease in behavioral issues among students. Not only does parent classroom participation provide a significant amount of support to the board of education, it also helps illustrate to students the importance of school work and community service. There are various ways of allowing parents to volunteer in schools; however in Croatia, parents seem to disregard parental participation as an important factor in determining their child’s academic success. This paper details the experience of being read to by students of first and second grade of elementary school as a volunteering parent in the „Castelli International School“, Grottaferrata, Rome (Italy). Volunteering parents would spend one hour once or twice a week listening to students read out loud. A well organized school schedule allowed parents either working full time or unemployed to determine the amount of time they would be able to appoint to volunteering. The regular participation of volunteering parents significantly increased the students’ ability to read out loud fluently and improved their reading comprehension over time. It has also shown to be an effective way of interesting students in independent reading, encouraging their desire for literature and communication with others as well as decreasing any possible performance anxiety the children might experience. Most importantly, it provided children with the necessary parental support needed for furthering their academic accomplishments.
Keywords
parental volunteer; reading out loud; reading ability; reading comprehension
Hrčak ID:
121528
URI
Publication date:
13.6.2013.
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