Sybil and the screen: A very young child’s digital literacy practices in a home environment

Across the world, more and more children are introduced to digital literacy alongside print literacy. In many settings, children are initiated to literacy by their families prior to formal education, and emergent research shows that children’s awareness and learning of digital literacy begins in family settings. Yet, there is little awareness of digital literacy practices in children before they enter pre-school. There is also a need for research on children’s home literacy environments, especially from the global South. Our aim in this paper is to provide a detailed description of the emergence of digital (and print) literacy practices of one child in an urban home in Sri Lanka. This is an exploratory qualitative study using photo images, videos and parent interviews of her literacy activities from age 1:09 through 02:05 years. The study period coincided with her initial Covid19 period. The paper provides an overview of the literacy resources used by the child, the digital literacy practices during this time, and the social aspect of familial digital literacy development.