Children's Home Literacy Research Articles

Longitudinal trajectories of brain development from infancy to school age and their relationship to literacy development.

Reading is one of the most complex skills that we utilize daily, and it involves the early development and interaction of various lower-level subskills, including phonological processing and oral language. These subskills recruit brain structures, which begin to develop long before the skill manifests and exhibit rapid development during infancy. However, how longitudinal trajectories of early brain development in these structures supports long-term acquisition of literacy subskills and subsequent reading is unclear. Children underwent structural and diffusion MRI scanning at multiple timepoints between infancy and second grade and were tested for literacy subskills in preschool and decoding and word reading in early elementary school. We developed and implemented a reproducible pipeline to generate longitudinal trajectories of early brain development to examine associations between these trajectories and literacy (sub)skills. Furthermore, we examined whether familial risk of reading difficulty and a child's home literacy environment, two common literacy-related covariates, influenced those trajectories. Results showed that individual differences in curve features (e.g., intercepts and slopes) for longitudinal trajectories of volumetric, surface-based, and white matter organization measures in left-hemispheric reading-related regions and tracts were linked directly to phonological processing and indirectly to second-grade decoding and word reading skills via phonological processing. Altogether, these findings suggest that the brain bases of phonological processing, previously identified as the strongest behavioral predictor of reading and decoding skills, may already begin to develop early in infancy but undergo further refinement between birth and preschool. The present study underscores the importance of considering academic skill acquisition from the very beginning of life.

Association between Mother's Educational Status And Home Literacy Environment With The Language Abilities Of Seven Year-Old Children: Path Analysis Evidence

<p><strong>Background</strong><strong>: </strong>Factors that can influence the success of the educational process are family environmental factors, school environment, and community environment. The role of parents is to provide materials and help their children when they experience difficulties in the learning process. Language skills emerge in early childhood and are critical in promoting later literacy competencies, such as reading and writing. The period from birth to age 3 is critical for language development, as nearly all typically developing children acquire important language skills by age 3. During this period, children's home environment is especially important, as parents are the main providers of language input and support, allowing most children to acquire a basic foundation of language.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study used a cross sectional study design, which was conducted in Surakarta City. A sample of 100 people was selected using a random sampling technique. Data collection was performed using a questionnaire and analyzed by path analysis.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> The direct relationship between expressive language abilities of children who have mothers with higher education is 2.2 units higher than children with mothers with low education (b=2.2; 95% CI= 0.9 to 3.5; p= 0.001). A high home literacy environment had a log odd of experiencing good expressive language skills of 2.04 units higher than children with a low home literacy environment (b=2.04; 95% CI= 0.7 to 3.3; p= 0.002). The indirect relationship between maternal higher education and expressive language abilities through the child's home literacy environment is statistically significant. Children who have mothers with higher education have log odd for high language expressive abilities of 2.8 units higher than children with mothers with low education (b=2.8; 95% CI= 1.7 to 3.9; p= <;0.001). </p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> A child's good expressive language abilities are influenced indirectly by the mother's high education through a high home literacy environment.</p>

Chinese parents' perceived social change and their organisation of preschoolers' learning activities.

China has experienced dramatic transformations over recent decades, which has significant implications for childrearing. This study examined whether Chinese parents' perceived social change would mediate the association between family socioeconomic status (SES) and children's involvement in various learning activities in the home, community and extracurricular contexts. The study included 312 urban Chinese parents with preschool-aged children. Parents completed measures on perceived social change, their involvement in children's home literacy, numeracy and play activities, as well as children's participation in community-based activities and commercially provided extracurricular activities (EAs). The results indicated that higher-SES parents perceived more opportunities and prospects and less work-related risk and adversity as a function of social change. Parents who perceived more opportunities and prospects were more involved in almost all types of children's learning activities except EAs. Parents who perceived more work-related risk and adversity only showed decreased involvement in home literacy activities. Parents who endorsed new values more strongly were more likely to enrol their children in EAs and demonstrate greater involvement in children's home literacy activities. The findings revealed substantial within-group variations in parents' subjective experiences with social change and how parents' perceived social change might shape their ways of organising children's learning environment.

Unequal home literacy environments between preschool-age boys and girls predict unequal language and preliteracy outcomes

A favorable home literacy environment for preschool-aged children is related to higher language and preliteracy skills, which, in turn, predict later literacy skills and broader life outcomes. The quality of the home literacy environment is associated with socioeconomic indicators, but some previous research has indicated that also gender differences—favoring girls—exist in children's home literacy environments. The purpose of the present study was to examine gender differences on a range of aspects of home literacy environments provided to 8469 preschool-aged children in Denmark and to determine whether gender differences in home literacy environments mediate relations of gender to language and preliteracy outcomes. Home literacy environment data came from parent-completed questionnaires; child outcome data were obtained using a standardized assessment instrument. The results showed that the home literacy environment provided to boys is poorer on average than that provided to girls. Path models showed that the quality of the home literacy environment significantly mediated the relation of gender to language and preliteracy outcomes, but gender was still significantly directly related to outcomes. Moreover, relations of maternal education and language minority background to language and preliteracy outcomes were mediated by the quality of the home literacy environment. The results suggest that family and healthcare professionals should emphasize to parents the importance of a stimulating home literacy environment for boys and girls alike.

Tracking the long-term effects of the Bookstart intervention: Associations with temperament and book-reading habits

This study tested whether Bookstart – a program promoting book reading in infancy – continues to have an impact well into Kindergarten. We distinguished between children who were more or less challenging to read to in infancy (more or less temperamentally reactive). Eighty percent (n = 471) of a sample participating in a study when the children were one year old – about half involved in Bookstart – agreed to complete a home literacy survey when the children were, on average, 72.1 months. A smaller group (n = 318) also consented to collect tests concerning language and math at children's Kindergarten. The findings show that language development when they are about to start learning to read still profits from Bookstart. Especially the temperamentally most reactive 50 % shows benefits (d = 0.21). Bookstart also improved children's home literacy environment (longer book reading sessions), but this effect did not explain Bookstart's impact in Kindergarten.

Mothers' and Fathers' Bookreading Predicts Preschoolers' Development in Turkish Immigrant and German Families

comparing associations between early literacy related activities and developmental outcome among ethnically diverse groups of children are scarce. The aims of this study were to: (a) document the differences in Turkish immigrant (n = 79) and German (n = 88) preschool children's home literacy environment (HLE), cognitive, and speaking proficiency test scores, (b) identify predictors of HLE and developmental status, and (c) disentangle effects of education and ethnicity on children's HLE and developmental status. Turkish immigrant children, on average, had lower HLE, cognitive, and speaking proficiency test scores when compared to their German peers. After controlling for parent education, HLE predicted children's test scores in both groups. Similarities in predictive patterns emphasize positive effects of a stimulating HLE for young children's development, irrespective of the cultural specificity of dyadic bookreading. Our findings suggest that increased efforts should be made to develop culturally sensitive intervention strategies to facilitate access to print materials for children and to promote both mothers' and fathers' bookreading.

Understanding the Home Language and Literacy Environments of Head Start Families: Testing the Family Literacy Survey and Interpreting Its Findings

The current study investigated the nature of Head Start children's home literacy environments and the associations between these resources and children's early-language and literacy skills. At the beginning of the preschool year, families of 302 children completed the Family Literacy Survey. In general, Head Start families reported providing a variety of activities for young children; however, variability was observed across families on several aspects of the home literacy environment. Findings also revealed that the average family reported employing academically focused activities approximately once or twice per week, whereas play-related activities took place significantly more often, close to every day. Implications for measuring the home literacy environments of families in poverty and for helping educators to build upon and strengthen these home environments are discussed.

Relations Between Indian Children's Home Literacy Environment and Their English Oral Language and Literacy Skills

More than 90 million Indian children are becoming literate in English, yet the home literacy environment for Indian children learning English has not been explored. Preschool children (N = 50) from Bangalore, India, were assessed for vocabulary, phonological awareness, and print skills in English, their language of schooling. Parents reported on the home literacy environment via questionnaires and a children's book title checklist, adapted for an Indian sample. Parents' book-reading practices moderated the role of English in the home in predicting children's English receptive vocabulary, such that high levels of book reading compensated for low ambient levels of English in the home. English in the home also predicted children's phonological awareness, whereas parental book reading and teaching of print both predicted children's print skills. Implications for the role of book reading in families learning English as a second language are discussed.

Maternal Literacy Beliefs and the Quality of Mother-Child Book-reading Interactions: Assoications with Children's Early Literacy Development

This study examined the relation among mothers' literacy-related beliefs, the home literacy environment, the quality of mother–child book-reading interactions, and children's development of early literacy skills. The participants of this study were 60 mothers and their 4-year-old children. After controlling for mothers' educational attainment, mothers' literacy beliefs were positively related to the quality of home literacy environments and the instructional and affective quality of joint book-reading interactions. The quality of children's home literacy environments and mother–child joint book-reading interactions was related to children's development of early literacy skills. Findings are discussed in relation to the importance of understanding the connection between parents' literacy beliefs and behaviors in designing effective literacy interventions and creating school and family literacy connections.

Relations between socio‐cultural factors, the home literacy environment and children's literacy development in the first years of primary education

This paper deals with the relation between children's home literacy environments (HLE) and their literacy development in the first phase of primary school. On the basis of a broad conceptualisation of the HLE, we identified three home literacy profiles (rich, child‐directed and poor HLE). Firstly, we related these profiles to socio‐cultural factors (more specifically, ethnicity and socio‐economic status [SES]). We found an association between the HLE and ethnicity/SES, indicating that (Dutch) majority children and children from high SES families had, in general, the most stimulating HLEs. On the other hand, we observed considerable variability in HLEs within ethnic minority and low SES groups. Subsequently, we related the HLE profiles to literacy outcomes in kindergarten, first and second grade. We found that, after controlling for relevant background characteristics, the HLE had an effect on children's vocabulary scores in first grade, and their general reading comprehension both in first and second grade.

Relationship Between Home Literacy Environment and Reading Achievement in Children with Reading Disabilities

Past research has indicated that a significant relationship exists between young children's early home literacy environment and their reading-related skills. However, this relationship has rarely been investigated among older children with reading disabilities (RD). In the present study, the relationship between parent and child home literacy activities and children's academic functioning was investigated with a sample of 65 elementary-age children with RD. The results indicated that children's home literacy activities were not significantly related to any of their academic abilities, whereas parents' home literacy activities were significantly related to children's passage comprehension and spelling scores. However, relationships between home literacy environment and reading may be different for children with and without RD.

Assessing the Home Literacy Environment

Abstract. As the findings of many studies have shown, different aspects of children's home literacy environment are related to the development of their language competence. We designed the Home Literacy Environment Questionnaire (HLEQ) to evaluate the quality of different aspects of the home literacy environment. This paper presents the development of this instrument, including: (1) the construction of the instrument based on the theoretical background and findings about the relation between family environment and child language development; (2) examination of the construct validity of the HLEQ and (3) an evaluation of its empirical criterion validity through correlations with children's achievements on a language development scale and their storytelling ability. Language competence was assessed with a sample of 4-year-old children that attended a Slovenian preschool. Using factor analysis, five HLEQ factors were identified: Stimulation to use language, explanation (F1), Reading books to the child, visiting the library and puppet theater (F2), Joint activities and conversation (F3), Interactive reading (F4) and Zone-of-proximal-development stimulation (F5). The findings show that some aspects of the home literacy environment (F2, F4 and F5) are positively related to different measures of child language development at 4 years of age and also contribute to a prediction of child language competence. Four HLEQ factors (F1, F2, F3, and F5) were also positively related to maternal level of education.

Effects of Literacy Materials from School on Latino Children's Home Experiences and Early Reading Achievement

Yearlong case studies of 10 Hispanic kindergartners were conducted. Findings indicated that (1) the school had a large impact on children's home literacy experiences, (2) photocopied storybooks and work sheets sent home by children's teachers stimulated literacy experiences that were unique to each in some ways but similar in others, (3) although children in classrooms using photocopied storybooks had higher literacy test scores, the use of booklets in the home was not related to literacy achievement, whereas work sheet use at home was strongly and positively related to achievement. The study's implications for home-school literacy connections to support children's academic achievement are discussed.

A study of work with parents to promote early literacy development

Abstract Recent research has shown the extent of children's literacy experiences in the home before school entry, and their importance for subsequent attainment. Pre‐school intervention involving parents has been found effective in other areas of child development but there have so far been very few attempts to promote pre‐school literacy development directly by working with parents. There may be doubts about the form such work should take and its feasibility. In the present study, home‐based and school‐based ways of working with parents were devised and tried out with families in the Sheffield Early Literacy Development Project. Case studies of 20 children in the Project, aged between 1 and 4 years, and their parents were carried out. It was found that parents were willing and able to engage in a dialogue about their children's home literacy and that the Project changed their approach to children's literacy experiences. Both home‐based and school‐based methods had an impact but the former appeared superi...