Associations among low-income parents’ home literacy practices and children’s writing development

• In Event: 2-074 - Building on Family Strengths to Promote the Academic Development of Young Black and Latino Children

Integrative Statement

Introduction
Children’s early writing skills before they enter formal schooling are important predictors of later literacy outcomes (Aram, 2005; National Early Literacy Panel [NELP], 2008). Although children’s exposure to early writing experiences often begin in the home environment limited research exists on parenting practices in the home that support children’s early writing skills. The few studies that have been conducted point to the importance of parental scaffolding (Aram, 2007) and the frequency of home writing experiences on children’s early writing development (Puranik, Philips, Lonigan, & Gibson, 2018). Such studies typically involve middle class samples with little attention to the parenting processes, beliefs, or behaviors of African American families.

Purpose
This study examines associations among African American parents’ parenting style, literacy beliefs, home reading and writing practices, and children’s development of early writing skills. In accordance with bio-ecological (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998) and integrative models of development (Garcia Coll et al., 1997) we attend to a variety of parenting factors and processes that may relate to children’s writing development.

Method
A total of 190 African American preschool aged children (M = 50.6 months, SD = 7.0) and their parents were recruited from six child care centers. Parents completed a survey about their parenting styles (Coolahan, McWayne, Fantuzzo, & Grim, 2002), literacy beliefs (Author, 2007), and reading and writing practices in the home (Sénéchal, 2006). Children’s early writing skills were assessed directly by trained observers in the fall and spring of the school year on measures of name writing and invented spelling (Diamond, Gerde, & Powell, 2008; Invernizzi, Swank, Juel, & Meier, 2003). Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to examine associations among parenting style, beliefs, and home literacy practices on children’s name writing and invented spelling skills.

Results
Demographic information about the sample is presented in Table 1. SEM revealed associations among parental education, parenting style, literacy beliefs, home writing and reading supports, and children’s writing development (see Figure 1). Authoritative parenting style was positively related to both formal (parental teaching of writing and reading skills) and informal (sharing books with children) home literacy experiences. Authoritarian parenting was associated with parental teaching of writing and reading skills in the home. Parent report of teaching of writing and reading skills at home was associated with children’s invented skills but not their name writing skills. Parental education was positively associated with parental literacy beliefs but not related to informal and formal home literacy experiences. Parental literacy beliefs were positively related to children’s name writing and invented spelling skills. Findings suggest that African American educational backgrounds and parenting styles provide an important context for understanding the nature of their literacy beliefs and formal and informal home literacy practices. The frequency by which these parents teach reading and writing in their homes and the types of literacy beliefs they espouse are related to their children’s writing skills.

Authors

• Gary Bingham, Georgia State University
  Presenting Author

• Hope Gerde, Michigan State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cynthia Puranik, Georgia State University
  Non-Presenting Author