What a Parent Brings to the Table: Young Children Writing with and without Parental Assistance

Maternal mediation of word writing in Chinese across Hong Kong and Beijing.

“…They found that higher parental control was associated with better communication about spelling and more conventional writing products (Bums & Casbergue, 1992); more interactive conversations tended to yield better collaborative letter products (DeBaryshe et al, 1996). Each study focused on a single aspect of parental mediation or dyadic literacy products, and children's independent literacy skills were not taken into account.…”

Spelling Acquisition in Two Social Groups: Mother-Child Interaction, Maternal Beliefs and Child's Spelling

“…Most of the studies on parent-child literate activities have been carried out on joint book reading (Bus, Lesemam, & Keultjes, 2000;Bus, van Ijzendoorn, & Pellegrini, 1995;Heath, 1983;Snow & Ninio, 1986;Teale 1986); only recently have some researchers focused on collaborative parent-child writing (Burns & Casbergue, 1992;DeBaryshe, Buell, & Binder, 1996). Furthermore, there is only very limited research on the writing development of children from different socioeconomic groups (see exceptions: National Assessment of Educational Progress, 1991) and even less research on children's spelling.…”

“…Since parents of school beginners are highly involved with their children's reading and writing in functional daily activities (Bissex, 1980;Clay, 1975;Heath, 1983;Taylor & Dorsey-Gaines, 1988) and in academic activities, such as homework support (Anderson, 1986, Cooper, 1989Hoover-Dempsy, Bussler, & Burow, 1995;Levin et al, 1997), it is most probable that spelling is frequently discussed during these interactions. DeBaryshe et al (1996), who examined the talk of HSES mothers while writing letters with their preschool children, identified two types of talk: talk about the code and talk about the message. Code talk referred to spelling, letter formation, punctuation, or other physical aspects of conventional writing.…”

Joint Writing in Hebrew of Dictated Words Versus Proper Names: Analysis of Low SES Mother-Kindergartner Dyads

“…Two designed studies analyzed the writing of a letter among dyads of young children and their middle-class parents (Burns & Casbergue, 1992;DeBaryshe, Buell, & Binder, 1996). Burns and Casbergue examined the relations between parental mediation style when writing a letter and the characteristics of the resulting letter.…”

“…The authors concluded that a less directive mediation style is beneficial to children's literacy development, as it encourages pre-conventional writing. DeBaryshe, Buell, and Binder (1996) studied high SES kindergartners' attempts to write a letter, alone and with their mothers' assistance. They analyzed the relationship between independent level of writing and maternal mediation.…”