Relationships between parent‐teaching activities and emergent literacy in preschool children

Abstract

Abstract Research indicates that both home literacy activities and direct instruction of reading skills promote reading development. The current study investigates how parent‐led direct teaching activities impact emergent literacy. Preschool children (n = 47) were administered subtests from the Test of Early Reading Ability‐3 and the Kaufman Survey of Early Academic and Language Skills. In addition, parents responded to a questionnaire about direct teaching of literacy activities implemented within the home. The majority of parents reported directly teaching their children literacy skills (86%), particularly letter names (71%) and sounds (65%). Fewer parents reported directly teaching printing letters (45%), writing words (29%), reading words (26%), or reading stories (26%). A trend emerged in which children receiving any direct instruction scored higher on most emergent literacy tasks. However, statistical significance was only found in a few areas including direct teaching of alphabet knowledge and writing words. Implications for family literacy and for future research are discussed. Keywords: Family literacyPreschoolTeaching reading Notes * Corresponding author. Email: mhaney@berry.edu Additional informationNotes on contributorsMichelle Haney Footnote* * Corresponding author. Email: mhaney@berry.edu