Home Environment Literacy Practices in Early Childhood Families : A Scoping review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29407/h310y909Keywords:
Home environment literacy, early childhood, family literacy practices, scoping review, PAUDAbstract
Home Environment Literacy (HEL) is widely regarded as a foundational context for early literacy development, yet HEL practices are labelled inconsistenly and studies across diverse populations, contexts, and methods. This scoping review maps empirical evidence on HEL practices in families with children in early childhood 3-7 years, following the Arksey and O’Malley framework as refined by Levac and colleagues, reported using PRISMA-ScR. A Scopus search identified 376 initial records, narrowed to 62 after database filters, 26 after title and abstract screening, and 25 after an early-childhood age criterion. The 25 included studies, across fourteen countries, were synthesized into six themes: literacy activities, parental beliefs, socioeconomic and cultural context, digital practices, pandemic-related disruption, and implications for the Indonesian early-childhood (PAUD) context. HEL practices appear shaped by an interacting set of parental beliefs, resources, and sociocultural conditions rather than a single dominant factor; no included study was conducted in Indonesia, indicating a contextual gap.
Downloads
References
[1] Arksey, H., O'Malley, L.: Scoping studies: Towards a methodological framework. International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 8(1), 19-32 (2005)
[2] Beltrán-Sierra, N., Fraijo-Sing, B., Tapia-Fonllem, C.: Parental Engagement in Early Literacy: A Qualitative Exploration of Practices and Beliefs in Northern Mexico. Psychology in Russia: State of the Art, 17(4), 3-22 (2024) https://doi.org/10.11621/pir.2024.0401
[3] Bergman Deitcher, D., Aram, D., Abramovich, D.: Parents’ Literacy Beliefs, Home Literacy Activities, and Children’s Early Literacy Skills: Stability and Progress Approaching First Grade. Behavioral Sciences, 14(11), 1038 (2024) https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14111038
[4] Bronfenbrenner, U.: The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA (1979)
[5] Crook, K.M., Howell, E., Rowe, L.W., Vega, H., Bates, C.C.: Co-Designing Multimodal, Multilingual Text Sets: Centering Caregiver Choice. Reading Teacher, 80(2), e70088 (2026) https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.70088
[6] Dan, Z., Mahfoodh, O.H.A.: Home Literacy Environment of Chinese Pre-Schoolers: The Effect of Family Income on Bilingual Reading Resources and Parental Reading Habits. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 15(11), 3621-3631 (2025) https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1511.15
[7] Dolean, D.D.: Home literacy practices that support language and literacy development in bilingual children: a longitudinal case study. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 25(7), 2621-2635 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2021.1943304
[8] Ehiyazaryan-White, E.: ‘Talk about my name’: exploring the translanguaging potential of artifacts within multilingual parents’ early literacy practices with their children. International Journal of Multilingualism, 22(4), 2894-2912 (2025) https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2025.2504025
[9] González-Pulido, H., Rodríguez-Ruiz, B., Martínez-González, R.-A.: Literacy Practices and Reading Motivation in Families with Children in Early Childhood Education. Investigaciones sobre Lectura, 20(1), 23-47 (2025) https://doi.org/10.24310/isl.20.1.2025.20602
[10] Hall, M.: ‘It’s sharing a point in time’: the temporal dimensions of shared reading in families. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 45(7-8), 1025-1041 (2024) https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2024.2390460
[11] Hamilton, L.G., Hayiou-Thomas, M.E., Snowling, M.J.: Shared storybook reading with children at family risk of dyslexia. Journal of Research in Reading, 44(4), 859-881 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12375
[12] Jin, Y., Islam, M.M., Muhammad, M.M.: Multilingual Scaffolding at Home: Parental Practices Supporting Early English Literacy. Early Childhood Education Journal, 54(5), 3839-3851 (2026) https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-026-02148-1
[13] Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia: Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Nomor 137 Tahun 2014 tentang Standar Nasional Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini. Jakarta (2014)
[14] Levac, D., Colquhoun, H., O'Brien, K.K.: Scoping studies: Advancing the methodology. Implementation Science. 5, 69 (2010)
[15] Lin, N.T., Molgaard, M., Wishard Guerra, A., Cohen, S.: Young children and families’ home literacy and technology practices before and during COVID-19. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 21(3), 341-354 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X231164132
[16] Liu, Q., Ompok, C.S.@.C.C.: The influence of parenting styles and child-parent relationship on home literacy environment: empirical evidence from Malaysia. Humanities and Social Sciences Letters, 13(4), 1190-1203 (2025) https://doi.org/10.18488/73.v13i4.4394
[17] Meoded Karabanov, G., Aram, D.: Children’s Interest in Digital and Traditional Literacy Activities: A Mixed-Methods Study of Parents and Children. Behavioral Sciences, 16(7), 1222 (2026) https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16071222
[18] Napoli, A.R., Korucu, I., Lin, J., Schmitt, S.A., Purpura, D.J.: Characteristics Related to Parent-Child Literacy and Numeracy Practices in Preschool. Frontiers in Education, 6, 535832 (2021) https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.535832
[19] Nkomo, S.A., Magxala, X.P., Lebopa, N.: Early literacy experiences of two children during Covid-19 lockdown in South Africa: A semi- ethnographic study. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 23(1), 141-174 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.1177/14687984231154351
[20] Ozturk, G., Ohi, S.: What do they do digitally? Identifying the home digital literacy practices of young children in Turkey. Early Years, 42(2), 151-166 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2019.1702925
[21] Pandith, P., John, S., Bellon-Harn, M.L., Manchaiah, V.: Parental Perspectives on Storybook Reading in Indian Home Contexts. Early Childhood Education Journal, 50(2), 315-325 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-020-01147-0
[22] Park, S.O.: Transforming a cemetery into a garden of languages: A justice-oriented, family-centered framework for cultivating early bilingualism and emergent biliteracy. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 24(2), 97-123 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1177/14639491231169762
[23] Peixoto, C., Cadima, J., Leal, T.: Mothers’ educational level and literacy beliefs: associations with home literacy experiences. International Journal of Early Years Education, 30(2), 167-183 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2022.2025580
[24] Ratka-Pauler, A., Birnbaum, L., Kröner, S.: The role of parents’ beliefs regarding their children’s literacy acquisition. Frontiers in Education, 9, 1330091 (2024) https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1330091
[25] Read, K., Gaffney, G., Chen, A., Imran, A.: The Impact of COVID-19 on Families’ Home Literacy Practices with Young Children. Early Childhood Education Journal, 50(8), 1429-1438 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-021-01270-6
[26] Sénechal, M., LeFevre, J.-A.: Parental Involvement in the Development of Children's Reading Skill: A Five-Year Longitudinal Study. Child Development. 73(2), 445-460 (2002)
[27] Susperreguy, M.I., Lira, C.J., Lefevre, J.-A.: Cross-Cultural Comparisons of Home Numeracy and Literacy Environments: Canada, Mexico, and Chile. Education Sciences, 12(2), 62 (2022) https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12020062
[28] Tricco, A.C., Lillie, E., Zarin, W., O'Brien, K.K., Colquhoun, H., Levac, D., Moher, D., Peters, M.D.J., Horsley, T., Weeks, L., Hempel, S., Akl, E.A., Chang, C., McGowan, J., Stewart, L., Hartling, L., Aldcroft, A., Wilson, M.G., Garritty, C., Lewin, S., Godfrey, C.M., Macdonald, M.T., Langlois, E.V., Soares-Weiser, K., Moriarty, J., Clifford, T., Tunçalp, O., Straus, S.E.: PRISMA extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and explanation. Annals of Internal Medicine. 169(7), 467-473 (2018)
[29] Tura, F., Wood, C., Thompson, R., Lushey, C.: Evaluating the impact of book gifting on the reading behaviours of parents and young children. Early Years, 43(1), 75-90 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2021.1908234
[30] Turco, R.G., Rowe, M.L., Blatt, J.H.: Exploring parent profiles in parent–child interactions with e-books. First Language, 43(4), 380-406 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1177/01427237231160242
[31] Valcárcel Jiménez, M., Schiele, T., Camligüney, Ö., Schuster, J., Niklas, F.: The More, the Better? Quantitative and Qualitative Aspects of the Home Literacy Environment and Their Impact on Children’s Literacy Development. Education Sciences, 16(2), 197 (2026) https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci16020197
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Sylvia Alse Dwi Astrid, Rama Wijaya Abdul Rozak, Rita Anggorowati (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
