Abstract of

Ecological Influences of the Home and the Child-Care Center on Preschool-Age Children's Literacy Development

Daniel J. Weigel, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA

Sally S. Martin, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada

Kymberley K. Bennett, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana

Based on ecological theory, this study examined how four components of children's home and child-care literacy environments, and the connections between these environments, were associated with preschool-age children's literacy and language development. Interview and standardized assessment data were collected from 85 preschool-age children, their parents, and child-care teachers. Findings from correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that (a) the literacy environments in a home and in a child-care center were associated with children's literacy and language development in varied and multifaceted ways, (b) aspects of home and child-care literacy environments combined to support children's skills, and (c) some of these associations remained after one year. The findings have implications for how researchers conceptualize the contexts in which preschool-age children's literacy and language development occurs and how they study connections among those contexts.

Abstract from Weigel, D.J., Martin, S.S., & Bennett, K.K. (2005, April/May/June). Ecological Influences of the Home and the Child-Care Center on Preschool-Age Children's Literacy Development. Reading Research Quarterly, 40(2), 204–233. doi: 10.1598/RRQ.40.2.4