The effects of promoting reading on children’s education outcomes: a case study of public kindergartens in Yunlin County, Taiwan

his study explores the educational effects of promoting reading at public kindergartens in Yunlin County, Taiwan. The research subjects were the teachers and parents of upper-kindergarten students (5-6 years old) from 10 public kindergartens in Yunlin County, to which 400 questionnaires were distributed; 322 valid questionnaires were collected for analysis. Data analysis was conducted using a linear regression model and a multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network model. The study found that the total amount of reading was a factor affecting “reading habits”, “language proficiency,” “comprehension abilities”, “independent reading proficiency”, “conscious behavior”, and “reading interest”. This study’s results and recommendations can serve as reference for professionals in preschool and kindergarten education.