PARENTAL DEMAND FOR PRECISION 2

Although there is a wealth of research on parent-child interaction during story book reading, much less is known about parent-child interaction during writing activities. In this study, we specifically looked at demand for precision, or the degree to which parents corrected mistakes in their children’s writing. Parents and their preschoolers (n=121) were videotaped during a joint writing activity in which they filled out pretend birthday party invitations. The interactions were coded based on the degree to which the parents insisted that the child write conventionally. We found that parents who insisted that their children write more precisely were more invested in their child’s learning of pre-literacy and early math skills. We also found that demand for precision predicted the child’s fine motor skills, so parents were sensitive to their child’s abilities