Scaffolding Books for Children: Mother's Metacognitive Decisions

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Reading Psychology

Volume

17

Issue

2

Publication Date

1996

First Page

159

Last Page

180

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe why mothers make metacognitive decisions that affect how they scaffold books for children. Twenty‐five mothers grouped according to their children's ages (6‐, 12‐, 18‐, 24‐month‐olds and 4‐year‐olds) were interviewed while they watched a video recording of two previously recorded booksharing events with their children. Interviews were transcribed, and an instrument was developed to code or categorize mothers' remarks. Three decision categories for scaffolding books (to extend knowledge, to make difficult text easier, and to maintain a child's attention) were interpreted from the transcripted data. Descriptive data and ANOVA's of decision types and frequencies indicated that mothers regardless of their children's ages made specific strategic metacognitive decisions about how text was best shared with their children. Mothers' decisions to scaffold were based on impressions of their children's development.

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