Home Literacy Environment: The Perceptions of Second Graders and Their Parents

Abstract

Understanding the literacy environment, and the funds of knowledge present there, are important aspects for teachers to consider when creating a balanced, student oriented literacy curriculum. The home literacy environment, coupled with other factors such as socioeconomic status, parent educational level, and cultural background all play significant roles in how a child will perform academically. This research project forms an investigation of the perceived components of the home literacy environment for a group of suburban second graders and their parents. It examines the ability of parents to support the child and maximize the potential literacy skillset of the student learner. The project was focused on discovering the presence and frequency of literacy components within the habitat of the home which included reading, writing, viewing and speaking. Other aspects of this complex environment that were considered: availability of literacy materials, frequency and enjoyment of reading freely, viewing adults or siblings reading, engaging in reading with family members, student likelihood and frequency in borrowing school or public library materials. The research was completed in two stages – student interviews along with materials available for expressing the home environment, namely drawing, as well as parent surveys that contained quantitative Likert scale statements and open ended questions. (Triangulated findings for the study are included to confirm validity with regard to the data.)