This study investigated the literacy experiences and attainment of 42 children aged
3 to 7, who had attended preschool education in a city in the North of England.
Data were collected through parent interviews before nursery entry; literacy
assessment at school entry, and at age seven; and by parent, teacher and child
interviews. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were employed.
Four measures of literacy development at age seven were used: children's reading
book level, writing ability and standardised scores for reading and English at seven.
Factors before school entry shown to be significant were: vocabulary scores, number
of letters known, how well children wrote their name and a phrase, whether they
listened to stories at nursery, and how often they were read to at home. This was
influenced by earlier home factors; by having access to books, being read to from
storybooks, and having books read in their entirety, the age parents started reading
to them, how many nursery rhymes they knew, and parents pointing out
environmental print. By seven, other significant factors were parents' knowledge
about school literacy, and how often children read to parents at home. Several
findings confirmed those of previous studies. Others were new: having a favourite
book before nursery, choosing to read books in nursery, access to home computers
at seven, children storing literacy resources indiscriminately, parents reading more
than newspapers and magazines, and parents providing examples of day-to-day
literacy. Process variables appeared to exert greater effects on children's
performance than status variables, such as social class, mother's employment and
qualifications, and relatives with literacy difficulties.
Home literacy experiences for the majority of children were barely acknowledged
in school, and home learning for children with problems was often unsupported by
school. For most children, homes provided rich, complex and powerful
environments for literacy learning.