Mother-child joint writing and storybook reading: Relations with literacy among low SES kindergartners

Maternal mediation in joint writing was compared to storybook reading in terms of their relations with emergent literacy among kindergartners in a low Socioeconomic Status population. Joint writing was examined by dyadic writing. Storybook reading was assessed by storybook recognition. Children's literacy was measured by word writing and recognition, and phonological and orthographic awareness. Kindergarten teachers ranked the children's verbal, graphic, and mathematical abilities. After partialling out home environment measures and storybook reading, maternal writing mediation explained added variance of word writing/recognition and phonological awareness. Storybook reading explained added variance of verbal ability above home environment and maternal writing mediation. Mediation in joint writing is linked to reading and writing acquisition, and storybook reading is related to verbal abilities.