Variations in the Home Literacy Environment of Preschool Children

Home literacy surveys were collected from the primary caregiver of 1,044 2- to 5-year-old children (M = 49.32 months, SD = 9.36) representing a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds and types of early educational programs or child care. The caregivers completed survey questions on family background and home literacy activities and materials. Hierarchical cluster analyses performed on three randomly constituted subsamples and on the total sample revealed that a three-cluster solution best fit the data. Clusters differed on frequency of shared reading and literacy teaching activities with clusters representing caregivers either low or high on all behaviors or low on shared reading behaviors but high on literacy teaching behaviors. Cluster membership was significantly related to socioeconomic status, family living circumstances, caregiver stress, and caregiver reading ability. Results support a model of home literacy behavior informed not only by knowledge and resources but also by parental beliefs and deliberate choices.