Parents' Beliefs About Young Children's Literacy Development And Parents' Literacy Behaviors

This research examined parents' literacy beliefs and their self-reported behaviors of how they help their children learn to read and to write. There were 35 parents of preschool-age children involved in this study. Parents were interviewed about their beliefs and behaviors using the Parents' Perceptions of Literacy Learning Interview Schedule(PPLLIS; Anderson, 1995a). There were significant relationships between parents' literacy beliefs and their self-reported literacy behaviors. Descriptive analysis seemed to suggest that parents with more holistic beliefs engage in more encouragement activities than parents with more skills-based beliefs. This research highlights the importance of examining parents' beliefs about young children's literacy development.

This research was funded by grants from the Social Sciences and Humantities Council of Canada, Award No's 752–2002–1860 and 410–99–0200.