Emergent literacy development: Home environment and parental behavior

A modern state?s socioeconomic and cultural development is significantly shaped by its citizens? functional literacy. Considering that basic functional literacy skills are developed by promoting emergent literacy, our research aimed to examine emergent literacy development through the lens of home environment characteristics as well as children?s behavior and parental behavior/ practices. The study involved 132 parents of children aged three to five residing in Belgrade. The data were collected using a composite questionnaire and analyzed via descriptive and exploratory statistical analyses. Although the results showed that most parents read with their children, the findings also revealed a negative trend in the use of children?s library resources. It was confirmed that children?s daily screen time was considerable. Likewise, the findings indicate that the process of promoting different forms of emergent literacy is decisively influenced by parental behavior models that comprise diverse approaches to reading and writing during everyday activities. The conclusion features recommendations that can be particularly useful to education policymakers in designing emergent literacy promotion programs intended for both parents and key actors in the education system.