The DREAM project was designed to study children's reading acquisition through innovative measures of print exposure. A key proposition of the DREAM project is to consider both quantitative and qualitative aspects of print exposure to create a single measure called Reading Load. This initiative focuses on school and home environments to provide a comprehensive approach to reading education.
The DREAM project consists of four main work packages (WPs):
WP1 - Quantifying Reading Load in School Settings: This package aims to quantify the level of print exposure that child is exposed to during their first year at primary school. First, we planned to quantify the amount of time dedicated to reading and writing acquisition in the classroom by a large sample of first-grade teachers who are representatives of the diversity of French school environments (e.g., priority education area, multigrade classes). Then, we aim to directly look at the classroom situation during reading and writing activities to capture real-time data on how long and attentively children engage toward print. It will be made possible by the opportunities offered by the AMPIRIC experimental platform (GoPro, eye-tracking, FitBit, etc.).
WP2 - Quantifying Reading Load in Home Environments: To extend monitoring beyond the classroom, the project will develop a mobile application that children and parents can use to log daily reading activities. This app will help capture a more accurate and dynamic picture of print exposure at home than the traditional questionnaires used in the literature. For each reading activity, the app will capture both the time spent reading and the child's feelings during the activity (e.g., the perceived difficulty).
WP3—Assessing Impact of Reading Load on Reading Outcomes: Using the app developed in WP2, this package aims to follow the reading habits of first graders and their parents for several weeks and measure their reading outcomes (fluency, phonological abilities, visuo-attentional abilities, vocabulary).
WP4—Developing Learning Scenarios that Maximize Print Exposure and Reading Motivation: Using insights gained from the earlier package, this final package will design and test tailored learning scenarios to maximize print exposure and reading motivation. Thanks to the extension of the mobile app developed in WP2, these learning scenarios will be provided individually for each child in the form of a parental support program suggesting daily reading activities to practice at home with their child.