Living with letters: An exploration of parents'/caregivers' perceptions of shared learning activities, socially constructed meaning, and preschoolers' literacy development

The researcher's purpose in this descriptive case study, drawn from a suburban school population of pre-kindergarten children and their parents/caregivers was: (a) to explore parents'/caregivers' perceptions of the concept of emergent literacy and how their children develop the ability to read and write; (b) to document the ways in which a population of parents/caregivers recognizes and supports the early learning behaviors their children exhibit that subsequently lead to proficiency in reading and writing; (c) to implement a model in collaboration with parents/caregivers to determine which contextualized activities support and extend their proficiencies in scaffolding their children's literacy learning, leading them to be "more ready" for school; and (d) to foster home-school connections through the integration of technology using a website specifically created for this study. The study was structured using eight, 45 minute sessions over a ten week period, during which parents shared their perceptions, experiences, inquiries, and suggestions about their children's literacy behaviors. Collection of data arose from parent focus groups, individual interviews, collaborative exchanges, parent observations of their child, a home visit, the teaching assistant's observations of each child, data arising from website analytics noting trends of each participant who visited the website, and my perceptions of each parent's needs, desires, and goals to aid their child in the educational process obtained during classroom and offsite visits. Parents engaging in the collaborative model acknowledged the benefits of attending structured informational sessions where they collaborated with other parents, shared their experiences, and gained new insights into research-supported activities that foster early literacy foundations. Further, they acknowledged their new awareness of the many opportunities that presented themselves throughout the day which they came to recognize as teachable moments. Parents who participated in the program acknowledged that they were not aware of the many domains of emergent literacy and their impact on later academic achievement