EDUC 830 Final Paper

Maternal Beliefs and their Impact on Home Literacy Instruction with Preschool-aged Children

Introduction

Parents are children’s first teachers and as such play an important role in their early literacy development. In the last 10-20 years, researchers have begun to closely examine the impact of activities from the home setting on the literacy skills of children, especially when they enter school. From the studies of these individuals, we have learned a great deal about the role of parents on young children’s performance in these settings, some of which is controversial and conflicting. This paper will provide a concise review of family literacy research with mother and preschool children. Specifically, it will address how maternal beliefs about literacy and instruction impact their interactions with children and how the interactions affect the children’s early school performance.

The study of early literacy skills development has roots in both education and developmental psychology, however recently the fields of emergent literacy and family literacy have begun to look at these same skills from a slightly different perspective. “Emergent literacy is concerned with the earliest phases of literacy development, the period between birth and the time when children read and write conventionally” (Sulzby & Teale, 1991 p. 728). Emergent literacy supports the concept that children are continuously learning how to use print and oral language from a series of interactions with their environment.

This theory is in contrast to the “reading readiness” model that believes that “young children need to be taught a series of prerequisite skills prior to reading, and that writing should be delayed until the children were reading” (Yaden, Rowe, & MacGillivary, 2000 p. 425). In the early 1990’s, Mason and Sinha examined many of the early emergent literacy studies completed by researchers like Clay and Heath and determined perspectives that seemed to be present in each work. These perspectives included the ideas that literacy begins prior to formal instruction and includes more than just decoding and that the child’s point of view and social setting have to be acknowledged (Mason & Sinah, 1993). This article also attempted to ground the idea of emergent literacy in a theoretical perspective based on Vygotsky’s theories, since there was a disagreement in the field as to what the theoretical basis was of emergent literacy.

In 2000, Yaden et al. wrote a chapter for the Handbook of Reading Research, Vol.III that discussed emergent literacy in practice during storybook reading, play, and writing. This article also addressed the impact of family effects on a child’s reading performance, citing 1992 and 1995 studies from Bus and van Ijzendoorn that asserted attachment between a mother and child “predicted the frequency of storybook reading in the home” (Yaden et al., 2000, p.430). Yaden et al. also discussed other recent literature involving the examination of emergent literacy in the home-based family setting. The articles that were reviewed had close ties with another young theory in literacy research: family literacy.

Family literacy is the study of how home and family-based practices affect the development of children’s literacy skills. Like emergent literacy, the theory of family literacy is not well defined. Early research in family literacy has sought to uncover relationships between home practices and school success, particularly in relation to families with low socio-economic status. Researchers have looked at factors such as “parents’ educational level, the uses of print in the home, the number of books in the home, and the frequency of parent-child storybook reading events” (Purcell-Gates, 2000, p. 854) and their correlation to children’s performance in school. Although results continue to be mixed, studies have shown that family literacy practices like shared reading do appear to positively influence the language skills of children, which may also affect their beginning reading skills.

Family literacy can be addressed in several ways, including projects that train adults and programs that investigate traditional home practices. The Harvard Family Research Project (2003) describes several perspectives regarding family literacy. One of the perspectives, the deficit model, has received criticism but continues to be the basis of most policy-promoted programs. This model addresses the idea that families, particularly those with low incomes, do not understand the skills needed to promote child learning, therefore programs must educate parents in appropriate ways to aid in their child’s education. Unfortunately this model does not look at cultural practices or ways that literacy may already be used in the home (Caspe, 2003). Mothers have been the primary caretaker involved in most family literacy programs, however limited information is available regarding the role of fathers and siblings (Caspe, 2003). In addition, some critics have examined the role of intergenerational programs and family literacy programs that are geared toward women. “Using feminist theories, they argue that family literacy programs should instead empower mothers to question the role of authority, recognize the importance of personal experience as a source of knowledge, and explore the perspectives of different races, class, and culture”(Caspe, 2003, p. 3).

Purcell-Gates also discusses the deficit model in relation to family literacy, noting that there can be many ways of incorporating literacy and print in the lives of children. She specifically references the work of Taylor and Auerbach who have opposed the standard three types of family literacy programs (Purcell-Gates, 2000). These types are based on the work of Nickse (1993) and include programs that focus instruction on adults and children, programs that provide instruction only to adults, and programs that provide instruction only the children, with the latter two types intending the other party will indirectly benefit (Purcell-Gates, 2000).

In their 2000 review for the Handbook of Early Childhood Intervention, Brooks-Gunn, Belin, & Fuligni also discuss these three types of programs as well as an additional programs that do not provide a specific “adult education component” but “aim to improve children’s literacy and academic achievements by enhancing parent-child literacy interactions and family literacy environments” (Brooks-Gunn et.al., 2000, p. 557). This paper will use reviews and studies from current research to examine the way mothers impact the emerging literacy skills of their children. While some studies have looked at the literacy interactions between mothers and children as young as 18 months, this review will focus primarily on research and reviews describing family literacy programs involving mothers and children between the ages of 3 and 6 years.

The way that mothers interact with their children during literacy activities at home appears in the research to be related to children’s reading performance in school, however little is known about how mothers form their approaches to home literacy activities. Within the last 10 years, researchers including Weigal (2005, 2006)) and DeBaryshe (1995), have conducted studies attempting to gain a better understanding of what shapes the literacy beliefs of mothers. After examining the studies collected in this brief review, several themes regarding the influences on material approaches to literacy emerged. First, parental beliefs tend to be based on their own literacy experiences. Interactions during their own schooling, with their own parents, or with the schools and teachers that work with their children, play a large role in the way that women address working on literacy activities with their children at home. For instance, in Heath’s groundbreaking work, Ways with Words (1983), she describes the development of literacy activities in the towns of Roadville, a southern working class town of primarily Caucasian descent, and Trackton, a primarily African-American working town. Using interviews and observations, she noted that mothers in Roadville considered it important to engage their children in joint-reading activities and to encourage them to play with literacy building toys. The importance of literacy education at a young age was a belief passed down to the women from their own mothers. Literacy rituals like reading a bedtime story or writing thank you notes were established, and children were encouraged to learn to read and perform well in school. However, mothers in Roadville expected their children to learn literacy skills generally on their own and did not provide much direct instruction to their children. In contrast, mothers in the town of Trackton focused more on the oral tradition than reading, but encouraged their children to learn to read to approach daily living tasks. Mothers did not buy books for their children, but instead prompted them to read using materials found in the home or community such as cookbooks and the Bible. Reading for pleasure was not described as a common activity in the community.

A little over ten years later, DeBaryshe (1995) conducted a study that closely examined the maternal beliefs of 116 low and middle-income women. Using surveys, audiotapes of mother/child interactions, and standardized tests of reading ability, she determined that mother’s reading habits predicted the way they viewed the importance of reading aloud. She also reported that socio-economic status of mothers, but not their reading abilities, impacted the way they viewed home literacy instruction. DeBaryshe noted that in both income groups, the more positive mothers were about reading out loud with their children, the more value they placed on literacy. This finding was in contrast with earlier reports in the literature that had shown joint reading activities were not occurring in low SES homes. Finally, DeBaryshe discovered that maternal beliefs about reading significantly influence children’s interests in participation in reading and literacy activities.

Sonnenschein, Baker, Serpell, Scher, Truitt, and Munsterman (1997) also studied the impact of parental beliefs on the way young children learn to read. This study, which looked at the opinions of 41 low and middle-income Caucasian and African-American mothers from Baltimore, like the previously discussed studies, noted the importance of mother’s reading habits on children’s emergent literacy skills. The authors quote previous research by Sonneschein et al. that discusses how parental beliefs are influenced by their own experiences within their culture. In this study, the researchers indirectly examined the connection between the family culture and literacy by reviewing diaries kept by the mothers of their weekly activities. They also performed periodic interviews to gain more detailed information about documented literacy-based activities. Findings from the collected data showed that mothers from both income groups viewed literacy as a part of the culture of everyday life by integrating reading and writing into activities such as cooking, reading the newspaper, and paying bills. Like Sonnenschein et al., Weigel, Martin, and Bennett (2006) discuss the fact that children view their parents as role models for literacy behavior, highlighting again the importance of how mothers regard literacy. Weigel et al.’s work also described the way that mothers may use unconventional ways to expose their children to literacy activities, like during cooking or shopping tasks.

Based on the information presented here, the past and present literacy experiences of mothers plays a substantial role in the way that they view and participate in literacy activities with their children. Although the activities mothers used may have differed, mothers in all socioeconomic status ranges encouraged their children to read and use the printed word.

While mothers in some of the studies previously discussed incorporated literacy into their daily activities of their children, many mothers in the research expressed a hope that literacy would allow their children to have an easier station in life than they did. In Heath’s work (1983), mothers in both Roadville and Trackton expressed the hope that literacy would expose their children to wider opportunities than the ones they were given. Phillips and Sample (2005) reported from their work with family literacy, that mothers often acknowledge regret for their hardships in life and through literacy education, hope to expose their children to better opportunities for reading, writing, and experiencing the world that is described in books. Two mothers interviewed by Phillips and Sample expressed their hope that by participating in literacy activities at home, they would be able to give their children opportunities to break the cycles of poverty, abuse, and illness that they have experienced. Another mother interviewed by the researchers expressed her hope that her daughter would be able to use the experiences she read about in books to learn ways to cope with challenges (Phillips and Sample, 2005).

Other mothers relayed their desires for their children not to have to struggle as they did. The mothers from Baltimore in Sonnenschein et al.’s research described in their interviews the idea that literacy skills would help their children be exposed to new ideas, have the skills to find and keep a job, and increase their independence (Sonnenschein et al., 1997). Other studies have also mentioned the concern about improving a child’s opportunities in life through acquisition of literacy skills. For example, in Morgan’s 2005 qualitative review of the literacy practices of three families from a disadvantaged community, one mother discussed her desire for her preschool-aged son to learn to read without the reading difficulties that plagued his father. Another mother talked about her experience with learning to read and the wish that her child could learn about the world of books and have more opportunities than what she was previously given. These are just a few instances from the literature that illustrate the idea that literacy can help expose children to the chance to positively influence reading habits in young children. By interviewing mothers from a variety of backgrounds, the authors described in this section were able to gain valuable knowledge of the impact of family literacy programs on daily living.

In most of the studies reviewed, researchers in the field of family literacy noted that it appeared from questionnaires and interviews that parents have an idea of what they consider to be appropriate practice for teaching literacy. In Heath’s (1983) early work, parents in the towns of Roadville and Trackton applied very different approaches to teaching their children pre-reading and writing strategies. In Roadville, children were described as being surrounded by print from infancy. Parents began reading books to children around the age of six months and were slowly encouraged to discuss the stories by direct questioning. Children were expected to begin learning to read at home before entering school, and as children approached kindergarten age they were given workbooks and activities to practice skills like learning to write the alphabet. In Trackton, literacy played a different role. While the town was a literate society, the oral tradition was much stronger than the presence of reading and writing. The exception to this rule was if information from a print source like the newspaper was read in a social setting to pass along community news. Parents in Trackton did not on average, buy books for their children, but encouraged them to learn to read for practical situations, like reading manuals, recipes, or sales tags (Heath, 1983).

Cultural differences in the way mothers approach the teaching of reading in the home continue to be seen in current research. For example, Hammer, Nimmo, Cohen, Drahein, and Johnson (2005) examined the differences in book reading interactions between African -American and Puerto Rican mothers. Hammer et al. reported that in their sample of 10 African-American and 10 Puerto Rican mothers and children, about half of the mothers from each group engaged in reading with their children at least several times a week (2005). After examining the literacy interactions between the mothers and children, the researchers noted that mothers from both groups asked their children basic information questions about the story, however they rarely asked the children to make predictions about the story or to relate the story to their own experiences. Hammer et al. also stated from observations that Puerto Rican mothers engaged in less labeling and comments about the story than did the African-American mothers. Overall, the researchers found that most parents had variability in their reading approaches that they attributed to cultural learning styles.

In addition to cultural differences in their views toward teaching, mothers in recent research have also been shown to have varying types of instructional approaches to teaching their children literacy skills. In 1997, Sonnenschein et al. categorized mothers in their study in three groups that included an entertainment-focused group and a skills- focused group. Mothers in the entertainment group tended to engage in storybook reading or other literacy activities with their children in a manner that encouraged them to relate the activities to their own experiences and interests. Mothers in the skills-focused group felt learning to read was a skill to be mastered and spent much of their time in activities working on specific skills. Results from the research showed that the entertainment perspective of teaching was positively related to emergent literacy skills (Sonnenschein et al, 1997).

Resse, Cox, Harte, and McAnally (2003) discussed three similar types of maternal instructors based on their review of the literature. The three types, describers, comprehenders, and collaborators, were reminiscent of Sonnenschein’s categories. During story reading, describers used labels and descriptions of pictures as the primary source of mother-child interaction. They also tended to spend most of the interaction engaged in reading directly from the text. Comprehenders, in contrast, focused on story meaning, higher order questions, and relating the story to the child’s experiences. Mothers in the collaborator group tended to change their literacy interactions according to the developmental level of their children.

Weigal et al. (2006) also describes two approaches to literacy that were observed during their research and were similar to the groups previously discussed. They felt that the mothers in their study tended to cluster as either “facilitative” or “conventional” teachers. Mothers in the facilitative group felt that working with their children on reading in the home environment would help with their performance in school. These mothers had positive memories of their own reading experiences and encouraged their children to read books to learn vocabulary, morals, and life skills. Conventional mothers had a tendency to think that preschoolers were too young to learn to read. They felt that reading instruction should primarily occur in the school setting and described difficulties with engaging in literacy activities at home (Weigal et al, 2006).

In each of the studies it is clear that mothers use different approaches to home literacy activities because of a variety of factors that may include cultural perspectives and/or their views on reading as an entertainment or functional skill. The next question to be asked is if those different approaches and activities impact the way that children perform on literacy tasks in the school setting.

Research on family literacy programs has focused their outcomes on the hopes that parental involvement in literacy instruction would help show increases in children’s school performance. The mother and child literacy studies examined in this review found most gains were reported in the areas of language and vocabulary skills and print knowledge.

Several of the studies reviewed in this paper reported gains in the receptive and expressive language skills and vocabulary of children based on their literacy interactions with their mothers. Whitehurst, Arnold, Epstein, Angell, Smith, & Fischel (1994) noted that dialogic reading between low-income preschoolers and their parents and preschool teachers yielded increases in expressive vocabulary skills that continued to be present months after the intervention was completed. They reported that this information matched findings from their previous research with upper-income mothers but cautioned that it was difficult to generalize outcomes from the 1994 study because it involved both teachers and parents. Senechal and LeFevre (2002) reported in their five-year longitudinal study of parental involvement in reading skills that storybook reading was positively related to gains in children’s receptive language skills. In addition, they noted that the results of the study showed that parents’ knowledge of storybooks was predictive of the vocabulary and listening comprehension skills of their children (Senechal & LeFevre, 2002). Weigal, Martin, and Bennett (2005) found similar results regarding language skills in their work. They noted that the parental literacy habits, activities, and beliefs of their participants shared a positive relationship to their children’s expressive and receptive language scores. In other research, interaction between mothers and their children in literacy activities such as storybook reading and beginning writing, was related to an enhanced vocabulary, more developed abstract thinking skills, letter-sound skills and increased alphabet knowledge (Aram & Biram, 2004; Haney & Hill, 2004; Morgan, 2005).

Print knowledge, or the understanding that print relates to letters, words, and sentences, is an important step in the development of early literacy skills. Several researchers who studied the home literacy activities of mothers and their children found relationships between engaging in these activities and increased print knowledge in children. Researchers used measures such as Clay’s Concepts about Print (Clay, 1993), to examine the print knowledge of the children in the studies. Haney and Hill (2004) found that children of parents who engaged in teaching language and literacy skills at home had higher achievement with concepts about print. The same effect was noted by Weigal et al.(2005) in their work. They also noted that print knowledge was related to parental literacy habits and beliefs. In their 2006 study, Weigal et al. again confirmed this result. Children of mothers who engaged in literacy activities that stressed vocabulary knowledge and relating information in books to their own lives had greater print knowledge than children whose mothers tended to wait for the school to provide instruction (Weigal, Martin, & Bennett, 2006).

In a slightly different type of research, Saint-Laurent and Giasson (2005) determined that children whose parents participated in a structured family literacy program demonstrated more gains in reading skills including print knowledge, than did children whose parents engaged in literacy activities at home without guidance. It should be noted, however, that in a recent study written by Deckner, Adamson, and Bakeman (2006), longitudinal research did not support the children’s gains in print knowledge, although the researchers felt this could have be due to restrictions in performance on the print concepts measure used in the study. Regardless, the information from the research overall appears to support maternal teaching as an influential piece to children increasing their understanding of print knowledge.

Maternal interactions with children during home literacy activities appear to play an important role in enhancing the reading and writing performance of preschool-aged children. Based on theories from family and emergent literacy, researchers have begun to closely examine not only what shapes these interactions but also what are the direct implications on school performance . In this review of the literature, maternal interactions were found to be based on concepts including experiences with literacy, hopes for their children, and views on literacy instruction. While there were some differences in the studies examined, most researchers found that children who participated in home literacy activities with their mothers demonstrated gains in expressive and receptive language skills, vocabulary, and print knowledge.

These findings provide a basis for the development of additional research investigating the effects of mothers engaging their preschool children in home literacy activities. As mentioned in the above section on print knowledge, a longitudinal study by Deckner et al. in 2006 did not show evidence of continued gains in literacy skills of preschoolers. Whether or not family literacy activities have a long-lasting impact on children’s literacy skills is an area that requires more research. Additionally, researchers have been unable to document clear connections between the effects of maternal family literacy activities and socio-economic status. Cultural differences appear to also play a role in home literacy education, however research addressing this topic has been limited to date. Continued research in the area of maternal literacy activities could provide additional information on ways that culture and material beliefs impact literacy development

Based on information from the reviewed studies, the practice of mothers working with their children on home-based literacy skills appears to have the potential to be an effective means of addressing sociocultural and skills based concerns with early literacy. Limited work has been done focusing on the impact of motivation on reading, however, engaging children in reading for entertainment purposes at an early age could provide them with positive adult interactions that may carry over to their teachers in school. In addition, recent government legislation has centered on having all students display progress in literacy and encouraging maternal literacy activities in the home setting could be one way to enhance children’s beginning literacy skills before they enter school.

Parents are children’s first teachers. Whether through research or practice, involving parents in early literacy is an important step to building the first connections to school-based learning. By studying literacy practices in a variety of homes, including different cultures and socioeconomic statuses, researchers and practioners can have a better understanding of ways to bridge the home and school literacy experiences of children and capitalize on the best instruction possible.

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