Read-aloud and writing practices in Nordic preschools

Figures & data

Table 1. Examples from the Analysis of Qualitative Data on Read-Aloud and Writing Practices.

	Meaningful units	Condensation	Categories	Literacy practices
Read-aloud practices	- It is about friendship. Our themes are friendship and inclusion	Friendship and inclusion	Learning about the world	Theme: Reading aloud to promote learning and development
	- The purpose of reading aloud is to promote children’s language development	To promote children's language development	Language development
Writing practices	- Inspire children to identify the first letter of their name	Identify the first letter	Graphic/visual focus	Theme: Writing to learn about letters (form)
	- Recognize their name, learn to pronounce (sound) their name, know the order in which the letters come	Recognize, learn to pronounce (sound), know the order in which the letters come	Connecting graphemes and phonemes

Table 2. The Frequency of Preschool Teachers’ Planned Read-Aloud and Writing Practices.

	Frequency
	How often do you plan read-aloud practices in advance?
Sample	Never	Mostly do not plan	Mostly plan	Always	Chi-square tests
Total (n = 222)	8 (3.6%)	171 (77%)	40 (18%)	3 (1.4%)	χ² (6) = 5.79, p < .45
Finland (n = 52)	1 (1.9%)	38 (73.1%)	11 (21.2%)	2 (3.8%)
Norway (n = 91)	4 (4.4%)	74 (81.3%)	13 (14.3%)	0
Sweden (n = 79)	3 (3.8%)	59 (74.7%)	16 (20.3%)	1 (1.3%)
	How often do you plan writing activities in advance?^a
	Never	Mostly do not plan	Mostly plan	Always	Chi-square tests
Total (n = 216)	72 (32.4%)	98 (44.1%)	42 (18.9%)	4 (1.8%)	χ² (6) = 14.41, p < .03
Finland (n = 50)	17 (32.7%)	20 (38.5%)	10 (19.2%)	3 (5.8%)
Norway (n = 87)	37 (40.7%)	35 (38.5%)	14 (15.4%)	1 (1.1%)
Sweden (n = 79)	18 (22.8%)	43 (54.4%)	18 (22.8%)	0

Note. ^aMissing data in the Finnish sample (n = 2), the Norwegian sample (n = 4)

Table 3. Descriptive Data on Teachers’ Statements of How They Organize the Read Aloud and Writing Practices.

	How often do you usually read storybooks for children?
Sample	Never/seldom	1 t/week	2 t/week	3 t/week	Every day	Chi-square tests
Total (n = 218)	1 (0.5%)	20 (9.2%)	28 (12.8%)	58 (26.6%)	111 (50.9%)	χ² (8) = 27.46, p < .001
Finland (n = 51)	0	2 (3.9%)	2 (3.9%)	7 (13.7%)	40 (78.4%)
Norway (n = 88)	1 (1.1%)	12 (13.6%)	14 (15.9%)	31 (35.2%)	30 (34.1%)
Sweden (n = 79)	0	6 (7.6%)	12 (15.2%)	20 (25.3%)	41 (51.9%)
	How often do you usually read non-fiction books for children?
	Never/seldom	1 t/week	2 t/week	3 t/week	Every day
Total (n = 219)	95 (43.4%)	78 (35.6%)	21 (9.6%)	21 (9.6%)	4 (1.8%)	χ² (8) = 9.46, p = .31
Finland (n = 52)	19 (36.5%)	21 (40.4%)	8 (15.4%)	3 (5.8%)	1 (1.9%)
Norway (n = 88)	41 (46.6%)	27 (30.7%)	5 (5.7%)	13 (14.3%)	2 (14.8%)
Sweden (n = 79)	35 (44.3%)	30 (38%)	8 (10.1%)	5 (6.3%)	1 (1.3%)
	How often do you usually write with a group of children?
	Never/seldom	1 t/week	2 t/week	3 t/week	Every day
Total (n = 220)	100 (45.5%)	44 (20%)	22 (10%)	45 (20.5%)	9 (4.1%)	χ² (10) = 28.5, p < .001
Finland (n = 52)	27 (51.9%)	9 (17.3%)	4 (7.7%)	11 (21.2%)	1 (1.9%)
Norway (n = 90)	54 (60%)	15 (16.7%)	6 (6.6%)	12 (13.2%)	3 (3.3%)
Sweden (n = 78)	19 (24.4%)	20 (25.6%)	12 (15.4%)	22 (28.2%)	5 (6.4%)
How often do the children use writing during play (outdoors or indoors)?
	Never/seldom	Sometimes	Often	Always
Total (n = 215)	66 (30.7%)	120 (55.8)	26 (12.1%)	3 (1.4%)		χ² (8) = 7.44, p = .49
Finland (n = 50)	18 (36%)	27 (54%)	5 (10%)	0
Norway (n = 86)	31 (36%)	44 (51.2%)	10 (11.6%)	1 (1.2%)
Sweden (n = 79)	17 (21.5)	49 (62%)	11 (13.9%)	2 (2.5%)

Table 4. Descriptive Data on Number of Children in Organized Read Aloud and Writing Practices.

Number of children in read-alouds					Chi-square tests
Question: How many children do you usually read for?
Sample	1–3	4–6	7–9	More than 10	χ² (10) = 33.41, p < .001
Total (n = 222)	74 (33.4%)	72 (32.4%)	37 (16.7%)	39 (17.6%)
Finland (n = 52)	13 (25%)	12 (23.1%)	16 (30.8%)	11 (21.2%)
Norway (n = 91)	47 (51.6%)	24 (26.4%)	4 (4.4%)	16 (17.6%)
Sweden (n = 79)	14 (16.5%)	36 (45.6%)	17 (21.5%)	12 (15.2%)
Number of children in writing activities
Question: How many children do you usually organize writing activities for?
	1–3	4–6	7–9	More than 10
Total (n = 192)	117 (60.9%)	52 (27%)	17 (8.9%)	6 (3.2%)	χ² (10) = 13.6, p = .19
Finland (n = 44)	29 (65.9%)	10 (22.7%)	4 (9.1%)	1 (2.3%)
Norway (n = 74)	45 (58.5%)	17 (22.1%)	9 (11.7%)	3 (3.9%)
Sweden (n = 74)	43 (58.1%)	25 (33.8%)	4 (5.4%)	2 (2.8%)

Table

	Quantitative data		Qualitative data
Question or statement	Type of question	Coding	Examples of categories for analysis	Themes
How often do you plan reading aloud in advance?	Multiple-choice question: Never, more often without planning, more often with planning, always	0–3
How often do you usually read aloud storybooks to children?	Multiple-choice question: Never, once a week, twice a week, three times a week, every day	0–4
How many children do you usually read to?	Multiple-choice question: One child, 2–3 children, 4–6 children, 7–9 children, 10–12 children, more than 12 children	1–6
Do you usually talk about the content of the book?	Multiple-choice question: Yes, no	1–2
(What was the latest book you read to children?) What was the aim of reading the chosen book?	Open-ended question		To challenge stereotypical gender norms. It is about friendship. Our themes are friendship and inclusion.	Reading aloud practices to promote learning and development.
			The child wanted this book, recognized it from home. The children think poop is fun. The children think it is interesting and become involved.	Reading aloud practices to create a sense of community.
			Creating calm and gathering the children by reading aloud.	Reading aloud practices to regulate activities

Table

	Quantitative data		Qualitative data
Question or statement	Type of question	Coding	Examples of categories for analysis	Themes
How often do you plan writing activities in advance?	Multiple-choice question: Never, more often without planning, more often with planning, always.	0–4
How often do you usually write with a group of children?	Multiple-choice question: Never, once a week, twice a week, three times a week, every day.	0–4
How many children do you usually write with?	Multiple-choice question: One child, 2–3 children, 4–6 children, 7–9 children, 10–12 children, more than 12 children	1–6
How often do the children use writing during play (indoors or outdoors)?	Multiple-choice question: Never, once a week, twice a week, three times a week and every day.	0–3
Do you usually talk with the children about the content of their writing?	Multiple-choice question: Yes, no	1–2
Do you usually talk with the children about the print (letters)?	Multiple-choice question: Yes, no	1–2
(What was the latest writing activity you did with a group of children?) What was the aim of the writing activity?	Open-ended question		Recognize their name, learn to sound their name, know the order in which the letters come. Practice writing their name and hearing the sound in word.	Writing practice to learn about letters
			Support the children in letter writing. They wrote signs with information that it was possible to buy coffee and cakes.	Writing practices to understand the function
			Become familiar with letters relating to the children’s interest. The children showed interest and curiosity.	Writing practices to arouse interest