Parent-child early writing interactions: Parental support when using a keyboard and a pencil

In literate societies, children show an interest in written marks and attempt to produce writings before they are formally taught to write. Explicit instruction of writing may be required for children to master writing, yet children learn about how writing works through informal interactions with their parents. Today, computers are an inseparable part of children's lives and children exhibit the desire to engage in the experience of operating computers. Computers can serve as useful tools in developing children's early literacy. The characteristics of parent-child writing interactions using computers have not yet been studied. The current study aimed to characterize the meaning of incorporating technology into parent-child writing interactions. We compared the nature of parent-child writing interactions using a computer keyboard versus those using pencil and paper. We videotaped 51preschoolers (M = 63.84 months) at home during a parent-child joint writing task, half of which was written with pencil and paper and half with a computer. The children were also videotaped when writing independently and when presented with a choice to write with either tool. Results showed that parents' writing support was higher when using the computer than when using pencil and paper and parents' mediation correlated significantly with children's writing level. The children's age correlated with the parents' writing mediation mainly when writing with pencil and paper. Children preferred to write using the computer. We suggest that supporting children's early writing with technologies can complete the traditional early literacy and writing support via a pencil and paper.