Parents’ perceptions of children's literacy motivation and their home-literacy practices: what's the connection?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which parental beliefs about children's literacy motivation is associated with their literacy practices at home. A sample of 315 parents of preschool-aged children participated in the study, and completed a newly developed questionnaire pursuant to the aims of this work. Thus, the construct of literacy motivation in this study is based on parental report. The results of a confirmatory factor analysis, focused on questionnaire items concerning children's motivation for storybook reading, supported a hypothesised four-factor model; the reliability coefficients for the observed scores were above the suggested threshold for all subscales. The results also showed that parental perceptions of their children's literacy motivation was significantly related to their home literacy practices. Researchers may use the instrument to assess how parents' perceptions may be associated with their children's early literacy experiences, and to inform the design of home-based interventions to support the development of children's emergent literacy skills. Implications of the findings for early childhood policy and practices are discussed.

Girls, boys and early reading: parents’ gendered views about literacy and children's attitudes towards reading

“…For example, Nichols (2002) found that parents of girls tend to believe that their children have more talent in literacy and are less problematic in literacy learning than parents of boys. Similar findings have been reported in recent studies where the parents' perceptions of their children's literacy attitudes were more positive for girls (Baroody & Diamond, 2013;Sackes, Isitan, Avci, & Justice, 2015).…”

Parents’ Perceptions of Student Academic Motivation During the COVID-19 Lockdown: A Cross-Country Comparison

“…We opted to rely on parents' reports mainly due to ethical issues involving children's participation in online questionnaires. However, as aforementioned, previous research has demonstrated that parents are relevant (Dinkelmann and Buff, 2016) and accurate (Eccles, 2005) sources, for instance in reporting their perception on students' literacy motivation (e.g., Saçkes et al, 2016). Future research could rely on children's perceptions of their own academic motivation and participation in extracurricular activities.…”

“…According to the self-determination theory, the fulfillment of students' psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness also depend on: (a) the way parents organize the environment (i.e., definitions of rules, guidelines, and expectations); (b) parent autonomy-support and respect for children's perspectives; and (c) the extent to which parents are involved and establish positive, caring relationships with their children (Grolnick et al, 2009). In addition, researchers have relied on reports from significant adults, namely parents and teachers, as reliable sources to assess student motivation and academic performance (e.g., Gilger, 1992;Harris et al, 2006;Saçkes et al, 2016;Allerhand, 2018;Owens et al, 2020).…”

“…On the other hand, we wanted to focus on students from grades 1 to 9 and young students may find it challenging to reflect on their academic motivation, especially by means of a self-report scale. We thus relied on parents' reports given that previous research has demonstrated the relevance and accuracy of parents' report measures (e.g., Gilger, 1992;Saçkes et al, 2016;Allerhand, 2018;Owens et al, 2020).…”

Literasi dan Gender: Kesenjangan yang Terjadi di Tingkat Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini

“…Keterampilan keaksaraan berkembang selama tahun-tahun awal prasekolah yang dipengaruhi dari sifat serta tingkat praktik keaksaraan di rumah (Saçkes, Işıtan, Avci, & Justice, 2016). Kemudian, ketika mulai memasuki taman kanak-kanak mereka sudah mulai memiliki keterampilan baca tulis (Pyle, Prioletta, et al, 2018).…”