Literacy Matters Vol. 23 Winter 2023

Home Literacy Environments

by Lauren Whitley and Andrea Crenshaw

Home Literacy Environments as an Ethical Responsibility Early childhood researchers agree that HLE for early childhood and elementary children are crucial for literacy and language development (Burgess, 2011). The HLE is a multifaceted and complex construct that includes all literacy resources and shared literacy interactions in a family (Rodriguez & Tamis LeMonda, 2011). In particular, the HLE consists of all literacy resources and interactions in a family that supports children’s language and literacy learning associated with children’s language comprehension and production (Niklas et al., 2020). Home Literacy Environments are essential for language development. HLE involves many aspects of literacy: • The availability of reading and writing materials in the home; • Time that parents and caregivers spend reading to their children; • The instruction parents and caregivers provide when their children are learning how to read and write; • Literacy skills of parents and caregivers; and • The value parents and caregivers place on literacy, such as whether they are avid readers themselves (Whitehurst & Lonigan, 2001)To this end, it is the ethical responsibility of educators to partner with families to support early literacy goals and skills. A number of strategies are outlined in the next sections to support effective home literacy environments. Helpful Tips for Parents and Caregivers Parents and caregivers play a significant role in the development of their child’s reading ability, comprehension, and language skills. Implementing a home literacy environment can also improve their child’s interest in reading, attitude towards reading, and focus. According to Hill-Clark (2005), there are many components to an effective home literacy environment: (a) parents or caregivers must begin to read to the child early, (b) parents and caregivers should use meaningful communication with children, (c) parents and caregivers should read aloud often to their children, (d) parents and caregivers should center literacy on written expression, (e) parents and caregivers should establish time for literacy activities, and (e) parents and caregivers should visit the library with their children. In addition, cooperation between teachers and families will increase and strengthen family literacy activities. Read Alouds Among literacy practices in the home, read alouds or shared reading have been shown to enhance reading comprehension as students must actively engage in meaning construction (Steiner, 2014). Research shows that if children are not reading pro ciently by third grade, they are four times more likely to drop out of school (Niklas et al., 2020; Rashid et al., 2005). As such, “Reading aloud to young children, particularly in an engaging

ABSTRACT—The home literacy environment (HLE) predicts language and reading development in literacy skills among children (Hamilton et al., 2016). Home literacy is critical in helping children who read below grade level. As such, the home literacy environment is an influential factor for the child’s achievement in emergent literacy skills and later reading achievement. The emergent literacy field views literacy learning and development as including a broader set of skills than just letter naming and phonemic awareness. It also includes understanding syntax and word choice appropriate to written language” (Kassow, 2006, p. 1). Additionally, many studies have found that the quality of the interaction between the child and parent is as important as interactive opportunities (Hindman et al., 2008; Jeynes, 2011; Kenner, 2005). This paper will explore the case for home literacy environments and resources to support literacy development in this context. {Keywords : home literacy environment, shared reading, literacy development} Let’s Talk Home Literacy Environments and Resources Children’s home literacy environments have been found to in uence both outside-in and inside-out language and literacy skills associated with later reading success among early childhood and elementary children (Tichnor-Wagner et al., 2015). The “home literacy environment” (HLE) is a term used to describe the literacy-related interactions, resources, and attitudes that children experience at home (Burgess et al., 2002). Speci c literacy areas that can be affected by the child’s literacy achievement are letter-word identi cation, pronunciation of single letter sounds, nonsense word uency, passage comprehension, and spelling of sounds. “Non-struggling readers were more likely to come from homes where someone read to them ve-to-seven days per week, and less likely to come from homes where someone never read to them” (Tichnor-Wagner et al., 2015, p. 10). Home literacy activities and access to literacy materials contribute to children’s outside-in and inside-out literacy skills. The HLE provides the demographic context within which literacy and language development occurs and has been linked to differences in children’s language and literacy skills (Snow et al., 1998, Weigel et al., 2006). This is a prevalent issue because more students from low-income homes are identi ed as struggling readers. “The largest group of children shown to struggle with outside-in and inside-out early reading skills is children who live in poverty” (Tichnor-Wagner et al., 2015, p. 6). Another factor that in uences early literacy development is a child’s socioeconomic status. Children from low-income homes are less likely to have access to literacy materials and less likely to engage in home literacy activities such as shared book reading. According to Tichnor-Wagner et al. (2015), poverty has been listed as a predictor of a child’s literacy development and reading readiness. “Children living in poverty are 1.3-3.4 times more at risk for identi cation with a learning disability” (Tichnor-Wagner et al., 2015, p. 6).

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