Parents' Talk About Letters With Their Young Children

A literacy-related activity that occurs in children's homestalk about letters in everyday conversationswas examined using data from 50 children who were visited every 4months between 14 and 50months. Parents talked about some letters, including those that are common in English words and the first letter of their children's names, especially often. Parents' focus on the child's initial was especially strong in families of higher socioeconomic status, and the extent to which parents talked about the child's initial during the later sessions of the study was related to the children's kindergarten reading skill. Conversations that included the child's initial were longer than those that did not, and parents presented a variety of information about this letter.