Exploring the effects of a home-based literacy intervention on the family literacy practices of Māori preschool children

This paper reports on findings from a study that explored the efficacy of a home-based literacy intervention in advancing preschool children’s foundational literacy skills. A secondary line of enquiry in the study sought to determine the effects of the intervention on the family literacy practices, in particular, the way in which families engaged with their children in shared book-reading, and the variety of literacy activities that occurred in homes. The intervention, adapted from Tender Shoots, consisted of two main areas of focus - one, named Rich Reading and Reminiscing (RRR), concentrated on stimulating children’s oral language skills, and the other, called Strengthening Sound Sensitivity (SSS), aimed to generate shifts in children’s phonological awareness abilities. Data sets were gathered with eight Maori preschool children and their families over a twelve-week period, which corresponded with the duration of the intervention. The study employed a crossover design, where four children and their families participated in the RRR component of the intervention, which ran for six weeks, followed by the SSS portion of the intervention. The remaining four children participated in the same parts of the intervention but in reverse order of delivery. The crossover approach established a control in the study, and allowed the effects of each part of the intervention on family literacy practices to be more clearly revealed. The findings showed the intervention resulted in positive shifts in family literacy practices. More particularly, families were more likely to use an interactive approach during shared book-reading, and incorporated elements of the intervention into their daily practice after the intervention had ceased.