ABSTRACT
The study focused on the influence of home environment on literacy skill development of pre-primary school children in Nsukka Local Government Education Authority. Three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. The design of the study was ex-post facto research design and the population comprised 3607 pre-primary school children in the study area. Proportionate stratified random sampling was used to select the sample for the study which is made up of 362 children comprising 214 females and 148 males. A literacy skill test, developed by the researcher using the schools’ scheme of work, was used for data collection. For data analysis, mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test hypotheses one and two. Analysis of variance, ANOVA was used to test hypotheses three, all at 0.05 level of significance. The study found out, among other things, that parents’ area of residence and income influence literacy skill development of pre-primary school children From the findings, it was recommended, among others that both government and non governmental agencies should assist in the provision of learning materials for pre-primary school children whose parents are low income earners to enable the children develop their literacy skills. Suggestions for further studies and limitations of the study were also highlighted.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
A home is every learner’s first point of contact in life which gives the learner the initial opportunity for socialization and character formation. The home, according to Abubaka (2008) is where a child lives with parents or guardians and is groomed to learn the norms and values of the society. It is supposedly a place of comfort, relaxation and refuge that enhances the welfare and development of the child up to responsible adulthood. Abubaka notes that the home is the bedrock of a child’s process of socialization to support a meaningful life. According to Hornby(2010), a home is the house or flat/apartment one lives in, especially with a family. For this study, a home is a place where a man and his wife live with their children and other dependents and interact with one another. For this reason, the home environment appears to be an ideal place for providing the child’s primary socialization and laying the educational foundation for development of literacy skills.
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Environment connotes one’s family, peer groups, relatives, neighbors, beliefs (Cuttance, 2008). Environment, according to Welmeier (2001) refers to the conditions that affect the behavior and development of somebody or something, the physical conditions that somebody or something exists in. The inclinations and abilities of children could be influenced by the environment (Onuoha and Emeh, 2008). Thus, the kinds of friends a child moves about with, plays with and confides in have great impact on the child’s survival and educational interest. A home environment contributes to children’s attitude towards education especially towards learning abilities and skills’ acquisition. Hassan (2009) states that education- conscious families make all necessary provisions to encourage their children to pursue their education to the best of their abilities while parents who are uneducated hardly monitor the activities of their children. Children are motivated to work on activities and learn new information and skills when their environments are rich in interesting activities that arouse their curiosity and offer moderate challenges. Operationally, environment is the totality of the surroundings a child grows up in. The same can be said for the home environment
Home environment refers to aspects of human domestic lives that contribute to their living conditions (Kiff, 2010). According to Kiff, these conditions may be physical, poverty, psychological conditions due to parenting, social circumstances or wider patterns of life related to location.According to Farrant (2005), a child’s home environment is what he/she interacts with. Home environment, according to (Anene,2005) is the most powerful learning environment in which the families, especially the parents act as educators. According to Anene, it is the immediate surroundings in which the pupil finds him/herself. It is also referred to as the physical and psychological components that affect children. According to Duncan (2007), home environment is the totality of all the components or characteristics that influence a child’s socialization and skills development. For this study, home environment refers to the people and conditions a child interacts with in the home.
Home environments, according to Ezewu (2003) affect children especially with respect to early literacy inclinations. A rich home background will have positive influence on the affairs of the education of their children by providing learning resources such as television, instructional video, books, toys, programmed learning technologies, journals that will facilitate the learning process (Kiff,2010). These could give a child an edge over his or her counterparts in an environment which has no such facilities. Accordingly, direct access to these teaching and learning resources will enable the child to inculcate literacy habits and consequent skill development at an early stage. The availability of these learning resources is paramount to the child’s literacy skills development. This means that children who have good home environments will have earlier access to education that facilitates their literacy skills than those who will have their own through provisions only in schools.
One of the approaches that could enhance the development of literacy skills basically stems from having a home environment with characteristics that support literacy. This is because at their most impressionable stages, children mostly below the age of five concern themselves essentially with factors in their home environments (Darling, 2004). The components of home environments, according to Darling which primarily concern children and influence their dispositions include parents, siblings, food, educational resources, culture, socio-economic status, internal and external neighbours, the nature of the building that houses their homes and location, among others. For this study, home environment is the totality of interactions in and around the home with human beings and materials with special stress on area of residence (location), socioeconomic status in terms of parents’ income and gender.
Socio-economic status of parents affects literacy skills development. Most often, parents’ incomes determine their dispositions, characteristics and attitudes towards their children’s welfare (Hassan, 2009). The quality of children’s home environments in terms of quality of stimulation and learning opportunities is closely associated with their wellbeing (Bradley and Coewyn, 2005). Having access to material learning resources and nurturing learning experiences consistently during the first few years of life affords children the foundation for healthy development and lifelong learning. Unfortunately, in Nsukka Education Authority, it has been observed that numerous children grow up in socio-economically disadvantaged homes where such materials and experiences are minimal or even absent. This seems to affect their reading skills. This is because it has been observed that a lot of primary school pupils in the study area find it difficult to read and write well. Based on the researcher’s observations therefore, it seems numerous primary school children do not possess those fundamental literacy skills which they should have acquired at the pre-primary education level to enable them read well at the primary education level.
It is understandable that parents of high financial status are likely to attach greater importance to their children’s school requirements than a poor family because they know the importance and value of education to the future developments of their wards (Okendu, 2009). Consequently, they tend to have good library at home, buy the recommended text books and school equipments for their children. Onyia, (2002) points out that those children from poor family background are given too much work at home at the expense of their studies.
The socio-economic status of some parents also makes it quite difficult for their children to enjoy the benefits of learning experiences at home. This is because many poor homes cannot guarantee three daily meals, not to talk of buying instructional materials and toys for learning for pre-primary school age children. Okeke (2005) noted that parents of low income are characterized by poverty, abuse and neglect of their children which in turn affects the learning abilities of the children. This means that parents’ incomes control recreational opportunities they make available to their children and their standard of living. Purchase of educational materials is seen as secondary and additional burden on poor parents who have to contend with feeding. This therefore suggests that parental income bears credence to educational opportunities of children especially as it concern literacy skills development.
Children’s early experiences shape who they become and affect their health and life- long learning. According to Young, Linver and Brooks-Gunn (2002), much of the variability in the relation between family income and children’s intellectual development comes not from socio-economic status but rather from the family’s provision of a stimulating home environment. There is also much evidence in support of the hypotheses that the quality of a child’s early learning in the home related positively to the development of intelligence and reading skills (Meece, 2002; Senechal&Lefevre, 2002). To develop their full potentials, children need safe and comfortable housing, stable and adequate nutrition, access to medical care affection and affinity with parents and siblings, affection and able peer mates, secure relationship with adult caregivers, nurturing and responsive parenting as well as high quality early learning experiences.
This means therefore that home environments, in the education process at the early stage, are critical to a child’s success in both school and later life. According to Simpkins (2006), a supportive home environment, filled with educational resources, has a powerful impact on children’s development of literacy skills. Availability of stimulating educational resources in the home such as books, academic pictures, academic play materials are critical indicators of literacy skill advancement of a home. This is in line with Cole’s (2011) assertion that the presence of educative resources signals a picture of the quality of literacy skill development enhanced by the home. For most children, the interior of the home and its immediate surroundings are the first environment they experience throughout their early years. It is therefore crucial that children see their environment as amenable to learning as this will also enable them to develop their literacyskills through constant use of these learning resources. Home observations, according to Huss (2006) lay credence to children’s acquisition of literacy at the impressionable period of childhood.
Literacy is a social practice. It follows therefore that literacy skills development begins at home since the home is the child’s first socializing agent. Literacy skills are all the skills needed for reading and writing. According to Bainbridge (2014), they include awareness of sounds of language, awareness of print, relationship between letters and sounds, vocabulary development, spelling and comprehension. The most emergent aspect of literacy skills is that it is a process that is rooted in the home, continues and grows over time. Hence, children’s needs for instructive materials and enabling learning conditions are supposed to be guaranteed by homes at the earliest stage since learning starts from the day the child is born. Many experts like Evans, Kelly, Sikora and Treiman (2010) agree that one of the most important things that parents can do to develop early literacy skills is to read with their children as often as possible. Yet, from the researcher’s observation, access to books is limited in some households in Nsukka Education Authority while some homes do not have at all. Development, according to Charlesworth (1992) is the changes in the child due to interaction between growth and learning. Also, Dara and Blaise-Okezie n Opara and JohnNwosu (2013) see development as an increase in the ability of an individual to function properly at any given age and in a given situation. Literacy skills development therefore, is a prerequisite for successful academic achievement. In this context, literacy skills development is a conscious attempt by the learner to improve upon learned experiences so as to achieve higher academic goals. This requisite literacy skills development is expected to be started as early as possible preferably at the pre-primary education level.
Pre-primary education is the education given in an educational institution to children prior to their entering the primary school (FRN, 2004). It includes the crèche, the nursery and the kindergarten. This level of education is meant to prepare children for the primary level of education whereone of the major objectives is the inculcation of permanent literacy and numeracy and the ability to communicate effectively(FRN,2004). Many studies demonstrate the importance of exposure to books and play materials in the early ages. Availability of toys and books is a good indicator of parental concern on literacy skills development of the child. At the early ages, looking at picture books together with the parent pointing at pictures while the parents name them stimulates the child in many ways (Kalm, 2000). Ibiam and Ugwu (2009) see education at the early ages as the education process designed to develop the habits, attitudes and skills needed for successful primary education. It is believed that this major objective of pre-primary education is fundamental to the achievement of the overall national education goals. It is a stage marked by conquest of symbols when a child can relate objects to words.
A pre-primary school child is one who attends the crèche and nursery school. He/she is usually between the ages of 0-5 years. The child, at this stage is curious and has the ability to acquire language. One of the objectives of pre-primary education in Nigeria is the teaching of the rudiments of numbers, letters, colours, shapes, forms, among other things through play. It is a period characterized by curiosity, inquisitiveness, exploration and language skills development. These early years are important in an individual’s life because the period is crucial and sensitive in the sense that the child is delicate, mentally alert and learns very fast. Influences and impressions made at this period are lasting.
In addition, the location of the residence of the child plays a significant role towards stimulating and promoting literacy skills development. The child’s area of residence may be a contributing factor that deprives him or her of enjoying the above mentioned social services within the home environment. For this study, area of residence refers to where one lives and can be located. Ngwoke and Eze (2004) maintained that any environment that consists of human behaviour, especially social behaviour which is acquired through the process of interaction with the environment could be taken for one’s area of residence. Similarly, Onuoha and Emeh (2008) explained that area of residence signifies the environment which can be referred to as the conditions, circumstances affecting a person’s life.
Location of parents’ residential areas poses serious challenges to their children’s education. For instance, parents living in parts of cities thickly populated by poor people characterized by insufficient accommodation, very poor environments that lack basic amenities like water, light, good roads, good schools, medical care are naturally predisposed to excessive stress and alienation from academic interest (Onuoha&Emeh, 2008). Children who live in slums with parents who are, all the time, struggling for basic needs may see education necessities of their children as not critical. Hence, they pursue other survival needs while the children, at this impressionable age, suffer academic neglect. Lack of early childhood educational necessities is what Sandstron and Huerta (2013) termed instability in the supportive structures that predict children’s learning outcomes.
In addition to parents’ residential areas, gender may have influence on literacy skill development of pupils. However, literacy skill development transcends gender differences. Gender is an ascribed attribute that differentiates feminine from masculine socially (Lee, 2011). It refers to the differences in the ways females and males are brought up in the society. Gender is the specific cultural patterns of behavior that are attributed to the sexes (Nnachi, 2007). An instance of gender stereotype is that of the female being the more emotional sex (Grewal and Salvoey, 2006). It is believed that females place excessive importance and thought on things that happen to them as well as reflect on their own emotions and those of others. Due to the differences in the upbringing of males and females in the typical Nigerian social environment, females are often confronted with problems and situations that demand social skills. This enables females to have a larger, richer range of verbal resources at their disposal that can make them achieve better literacy skills than males. According to Fiosh (2005), girls develop verbal skills earlier than boys and as such, they are more skilled at articulating their feelings and have greater expertise in the use of words. The early home exposure of females and their ability to manage challenging tasks of home chores when the mother is absent equip the females with more literacy skills development abilities than boys.
On the other hand, Zeman and Garber (2006) noted that boys are seen to be more assertive, competent, competitive, achieving and risk taking while girls are viewed to be more observant, security conscious, quiet and less risk taking. From this analysis, it stands to reason that girls are more resilient than boys on information cognitive processing which may equally promote their literacy skills development better than boys. Male competitiveness, home phobia, avoiding vulnerability and openness and lack of appropriate role modeling are some of the obstacles that prevent boys from expressing themselves articulately. Gender for this study is the state of being male or female. The extent to which gender affects literacy skills development needs to be determined by this study.
Early experiences of socio-economic adversity, poor nutrition and deprived home environments contribute to disparities in children’s development and their potential lifelong achievement. According to Shonkoff and Richter (2013), experience-dependent skills such as the ability to read, rests on the availability of key learning experiences and adult support. Since the problem has been fully delineated to the home environment of the child, it becomes imperative to investigate the influence of the home environment on literacy skills development of pre-primary school children.
Statement of the Problem
Home is the bedrock of a child’s development that is very crucial and upon which other subsequent educational pursuits rest. Development of literacy skill by children at the pre-school stage is central to the success as well as likely failure of the whole educational system. It has been observed that early experiences an individual has at home have capabilities to determine, to a large extent, the personality of such individual. Since children have different home environments, it is expected that they must have had different experiences at their early stages of development
Unfortunately, in Nsukka Education Authority, it has been observed that numerous children grow up in socio-economically disadvantaged homes where such materials and experiences are minimal or even absent. This seems to affect their acquisition of reading skills. This is because it has been observed that a lot of primary school pupils in the study area find it difficult to read and write well. It has been observed that most children in the area of study do not possess these literacy skills needed for good reading skills in primary schools. This has led to differences in literacy skill development among pupils. Based on the researcher’s observations therefore, it seems numerous primary school children do not possess those fundamental literacy skills which they should have acquired at the pre-primary education level to enable them read well at the primary education level.
INFLUENCE OF HOME ENVIRONMENT ON LITERACY SKILL DEVELOPMENTT OF PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN IN NSUKKA CENTRALEDUCATION AUTHORITY
