Mothers’ educational level and literacy beliefs: associations with home literacy experiences

ABSTRACT

This study intends to extend previous work by examining associations between literacy-related beliefs and home literacy experiences during the transition from preschool to Grade 1, taking maternal education into consideration. Fifty-seven Portuguese children and their mothers participated. Data about families’ sociodemographic characteristics, home literacy environment, mothers’ interactive behaviours during storybook reading, and mothers’ literacy beliefs were collected in two moments during home visits. Overall results indicate that mothers’ educational level and literacy beliefs are variables of particular interest for understanding home literacy experiences. Together, mothers’ educational level and literacy beliefs explained a moderate proportion of the variance in reported and observed home literacy experiences, when children were at the end of preschool education, and one year later, when children were at the end of Grade 1. Moreover, findings reveal that mothers’ literacy beliefs contribute independently to the quantity and quality of home literacy experiences after controlling for maternal education. These findings have implications for professionals who have the responsibility of working with families to increase the likelihood of academic success, particularly in contexts that serve children at-risk for reading failure.

KEYWORDS:

• Home literacy environment
• shared book reading
• maternal education
• maternal literacy beliefs
• transition from preschool to grade 1

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology - FCT [Grant Number SFRH/BD/30764/2006].

Notes on contributors

Carla Peixoto

Carla Peixoto, Ph.D., is assistant professor of psychology in the Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Maia (ISMAI), and a researcher in inED - Centre for Research and Innovation in Education (School of Education of the Polytechnic of Porto), Portugal. Her research interests include quality of early education and care, emergent literacy, social and emotional learning, and preschool teachers’ professional development. Her most recent work concerns pre-service teacher preparation in the area of social and emotional learning.

Joana Cadima

Joana Cadima, Ph.D., is assistant professor of psychology at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences and researcher at the Centre for Psychology at the University of Porto, Portugal. Her research interests include teacher-child interactions and social relationships as contexts for child development in early childhood, child adjustment to school transitions, sociocultural risk and the use of observational methods. She has participated in several research projects on early childhood education, focusing on preschool and primary school quality. She has recently conducted European-funded research (e.g., H2020 ISOTIS) involving children from socially disadvantaged communities in several countries.

Teresa Leal

Teresa Leal, Ph.D., is assistant professor of psychology in under- and postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences and researcher at the Centre for Psychology at the University of Porto, Portugal. Her research interests include quality of preschool and school settings, literacy and social skills development, and interactions in classrooms and home environments. She has been invited to collaborate in national commissions and projects as a consultant in her field of expertise and integrates the ECERS International Research Group.