The impact of schooling context through COVID-19 on strategies for reading on paper and on digital devices

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted children’s lives, including school closures resulting in mandatory
homeschooling. These school changes have been associated with gaps in educational attainment, and changes in children’s
screen time. The current study aimed to investigate the reading strategies parents used with their children, how children spent
their leisure time, and children’s digital reading versus reading on paper during the pandemic. The study compared these
variables across three groups: in-person learners, mandated homeschoolers, and voluntary homeschoolers, with further analyses
by age group. 961 North American couples with children in Grades 1-5 were surveyed, responding retrospectively on the period
of January 15th, 2021, to February 15th, 2021. Voluntary homeschoolers spent more time reading both on paper and on a screen
for pleasure than mandated homeschoolers and in-person learners. Families with mandated homeschoolers and in-person
learners employed more reading strategies when reading on paper than on screens. These two groups also used reading
strategies more frequently with paper than families who voluntarily homeschooled their children. Mandated homeschoolers
use more reading strategies with their children on a screen than both in-person learners and voluntary homeschoolers. All three
schooling groups used more strategies with younger children compared to older children. Voluntary homeschoolers engaged in
almost all activities more often per week compared to mandated homeschoolers and in-person learners. This research highlights
differences in reading habits and strategy use among children based on their schooling conditions during the pandemic, which
may help explain the emerging gaps in educational attainment related to the pandemic.