Report
Parents' Support for Young Children's Literacy at Home in 2026
| Τίτλος: | Parents' Support for Young Children's Literacy at Home in 2026 |
|---|---|
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Συγγραφείς: | Iulia Moisi, Christina Clark, National Literacy Trust (United Kingdom) |
| Πηγή: | National Literacy Trust. 2026. |
| Διαθεσιμότητα: | National Literacy Trust. Swire House, 59 Buckingham Gate, London, SW1E 6AJ, UK. Tel: +44-2078-282435; Fax: +44-2079-319986; e-mail: contact@literacytrust.org.uk; Web site: http://www.literacytrust.org.uk |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 26 |
| Ημερομηνία έκδοσης: | 2026 |
| Τύπος εγγράφου: | Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Family Environment, Parent Role, Young Children, Emergent Literacy, Socioeconomic Status, Literacy Education, Foreign Countries, Learning Activities, Interpersonal Communication, Play, Parent Child Relationship, Reading Aloud to Others, Singing, Art Activities, Knowledge Level, Self Efficacy, Barriers |
| Γεωγραφικοί όροι: | United Kingdom |
| Περίληψη: | The home learning environment plays a vital role in children's early language, communication and literacy development. Through everyday interactions such as talking, reading, singing, playing and exploring together, parents and carers help to build the language, knowledge and confidence that underpin later learning. These experiences are especially influential in the early years but continue to shape children's educational outcomes, wellbeing and future opportunities throughout childhood and adolescence. Research consistently shows that the activities parents and carers share with their children can make an important contribution to children's development across a wide range of family circumstances. Given this important role, understanding how families experience and support children's early learning at home has become an increasing priority for researchers, practitioners and policymakers. Indeed, strengthening support for parents and carers is also a key priority of the National Year of Reading 2026, which recognises the role families play in fostering children's early language and literacy. Understanding how parents and carers engage with children at home, the confidence and knowledge they have, and the barriers they face is therefore essential for informing policy and practice that support children's reading from the earliest years. This need is particularly pressing given the current national picture. In 2025, 69.7% of children in the UK achieved the expected level of communication, language and literacy at the end of Reception, a small increase from 69.2% in 2024. However, 3 in 10 children (30.1%) did not reach the expected standard, rising to almost 1 in 2 (47.5%) among children eligible for free school meals (FSM). While overall attainment improved slightly, the gap between children eligible for FSM and their peers widened to 21.4 percentage points, the largest in four years. Recent longitudinal research also highlights widening inequalities in the home learning environment, with parents from higher-income households substantially more likely to read daily with their two-year-olds than parents from lower-income households. Understanding how parents and carers are supporting children's early language and literacy is therefore more important than ever. Since 2019, the National Literacy Trust has tracked how parents and carers support their children at home. This period has spanned the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis and growing pressures on families and early years services. These challenges have affected both the resources available to families and the time and capacity parents have to engage in everyday literacy activities. Against this backdrop, this report explores how parents and carers are currently supporting their children's early language and literacy, how this has changed over time, and the confidence, knowledge, motivations and barriers that shape the home learning environment. In the summer of 2026, the National Literacy Trust commissioned a Savanta survey in partnership with tonies® asking a nationally representative sample of 3,194 parents and carers of children aged five and under how often they engaged in a variety of activities known to support early literacy and learning with their child at home. Using the EPPE activities as a guide, activities asked about included chatting, playing, reading, singing, painting/drawing, digital learning activities and playing outside. This report outlines the 2026 surveys findings and compares these with findings from previous parent surveys. [This report was created in partnership with tonies®.] |
| Abstractor: | ERIC |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Αριθμός Καταχώρησης: | ED682738 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | ERIC |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 CustomLinks: – Url: https://eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED682738 Name: ERIC Full Text Category: fullText Text: Full Text from ERIC |
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| Header | DbId: eric DbLabel: ERIC An: ED682738 AccessLevel: 3 PubType: Report PubTypeId: report PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
| IllustrationInfo | |
| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Parents' Support for Young Children's Literacy at Home in 2026 – Name: Language Label: Language Group: Lang Data: English – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Iulia+Moisi%22">Iulia Moisi</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Christina+Clark%22">Christina Clark</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22National+Literacy+Trust+%28United+Kingdom%29%22">National Literacy Trust (United Kingdom)</searchLink> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22National+Literacy+Trust%22"><i>National Literacy Trust</i></searchLink>. 2026. – Name: Avail Label: Availability Group: Avail Data: National Literacy Trust. Swire House, 59 Buckingham Gate, London, SW1E 6AJ, UK. Tel: +44-2078-282435; Fax: +44-2079-319986; e-mail: contact@literacytrust.org.uk; Web site: http://www.literacytrust.org.uk – Name: PeerReviewed Label: Peer Reviewed Group: SrcInfo Data: N – Name: Pages Label: Page Count Group: Src Data: 26 – Name: DatePubCY Label: Publication Date Group: Date Data: 2026 – Name: TypeDocument Label: Document Type Group: TypDoc Data: Reports - Research – Name: Subject Label: Descriptors Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Family+Environment%22">Family Environment</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Parent+Role%22">Parent Role</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Young+Children%22">Young Children</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Emergent+Literacy%22">Emergent Literacy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Socioeconomic+Status%22">Socioeconomic Status</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Literacy+Education%22">Literacy Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Learning+Activities%22">Learning Activities</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Interpersonal+Communication%22">Interpersonal Communication</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Play%22">Play</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Parent+Child+Relationship%22">Parent Child Relationship</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Reading+Aloud+to+Others%22">Reading Aloud to Others</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Singing%22">Singing</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Art+Activities%22">Art Activities</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Knowledge+Level%22">Knowledge Level</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Self+Efficacy%22">Self Efficacy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Barriers%22">Barriers</searchLink> – Name: Subject Label: Geographic Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22United+Kingdom%22">United Kingdom</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: The home learning environment plays a vital role in children's early language, communication and literacy development. Through everyday interactions such as talking, reading, singing, playing and exploring together, parents and carers help to build the language, knowledge and confidence that underpin later learning. These experiences are especially influential in the early years but continue to shape children's educational outcomes, wellbeing and future opportunities throughout childhood and adolescence. Research consistently shows that the activities parents and carers share with their children can make an important contribution to children's development across a wide range of family circumstances. Given this important role, understanding how families experience and support children's early learning at home has become an increasing priority for researchers, practitioners and policymakers. Indeed, strengthening support for parents and carers is also a key priority of the National Year of Reading 2026, which recognises the role families play in fostering children's early language and literacy. Understanding how parents and carers engage with children at home, the confidence and knowledge they have, and the barriers they face is therefore essential for informing policy and practice that support children's reading from the earliest years. This need is particularly pressing given the current national picture. In 2025, 69.7% of children in the UK achieved the expected level of communication, language and literacy at the end of Reception, a small increase from 69.2% in 2024. However, 3 in 10 children (30.1%) did not reach the expected standard, rising to almost 1 in 2 (47.5%) among children eligible for free school meals (FSM). While overall attainment improved slightly, the gap between children eligible for FSM and their peers widened to 21.4 percentage points, the largest in four years. Recent longitudinal research also highlights widening inequalities in the home learning environment, with parents from higher-income households substantially more likely to read daily with their two-year-olds than parents from lower-income households. Understanding how parents and carers are supporting children's early language and literacy is therefore more important than ever. Since 2019, the National Literacy Trust has tracked how parents and carers support their children at home. This period has spanned the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis and growing pressures on families and early years services. These challenges have affected both the resources available to families and the time and capacity parents have to engage in everyday literacy activities. Against this backdrop, this report explores how parents and carers are currently supporting their children's early language and literacy, how this has changed over time, and the confidence, knowledge, motivations and barriers that shape the home learning environment. In the summer of 2026, the National Literacy Trust commissioned a Savanta survey in partnership with tonies® asking a nationally representative sample of 3,194 parents and carers of children aged five and under how often they engaged in a variety of activities known to support early literacy and learning with their child at home. Using the EPPE activities as a guide, activities asked about included chatting, playing, reading, singing, painting/drawing, digital learning activities and playing outside. This report outlines the 2026 surveys findings and compares these with findings from previous parent surveys. [This report was created in partnership with tonies®.] – Name: AbstractInfo Label: Abstractor Group: Ab Data: ERIC – Name: DateEntry Label: Entry Date Group: Date Data: 2026 – Name: AN Label: Accession Number Group: ID Data: ED682738 |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=ED682738 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Languages: – Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 26 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Family Environment Type: general – SubjectFull: Parent Role Type: general – SubjectFull: Young Children Type: general – SubjectFull: Emergent Literacy Type: general – SubjectFull: Socioeconomic Status Type: general – SubjectFull: Literacy Education Type: general – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries Type: general – SubjectFull: Learning Activities Type: general – SubjectFull: Interpersonal Communication Type: general – SubjectFull: Play Type: general – SubjectFull: Parent Child Relationship Type: general – SubjectFull: Reading Aloud to Others Type: general – SubjectFull: Singing Type: general – SubjectFull: Art Activities Type: general – SubjectFull: Knowledge Level Type: general – SubjectFull: Self Efficacy Type: general – SubjectFull: Barriers Type: general – SubjectFull: United Kingdom Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Parents' Support for Young Children's Literacy at Home in 2026 Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: National Literacy Trust (United Kingdom) – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Iulia Moisi – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Christina Clark IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 09 Type: published Y: 2026 Titles: – TitleFull: National Literacy Trust Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |