| The purpose of this correlational quantitative research study was to assess some of the challenges associated with parents providing early literacy learning to children age three and four in the southeastern United States. Young children experience rapid brain development during the first 5 years of life. When the period of development lacks adult support that contributes to early literacy gains, the children are likely to enter kindergarten with deficits in reading skills. The phenomena explored are the types of academic resources used, the engagement of parents in literacy activities, attitudes toward early literacy, and parent knowledge of early literacy skills. To obtain data, 81 preschool parents completed a survey via Survey monkey. Spearman's correlation coefficients were calculated using SPSS software 23 in an attempt to examine the relationship between demographics and parent involvement in early literacy. No statistically significant correlations were found between parent involvement and age, or education. Statistical significance was found between parent involvement and income. Recommendations for future research are to include parents from a younger age group, and to perform qualitative studies to discover why parents choose to engage in specific early literacy activities. Another practical recommendation is that researchers complete qualitative studies to discern the expectations that preschool parents have of their child's preschool program to share current research based literacy best practices. |
