WHAT A PARENT BRINGS TO THE TABLE - YOUNG-CHILDREN WRITING WITH AND WITHOUT PARENTAL ASSISTANCE

Twenty children aged 5 and 6 years were observed attempting to write a letter alone and with their mothers' assistance. Children produced mo re sophisticated products with adult mediation, using conventional spe lling, writing longer messages, and using more mechanical details such as punctuation and salutations. Children's self-talk about the meanin g of the message was associated with higher product quality in the sol o task. Interactive talk about conventions (spelling, page placement, etc.) was associated with dyadic product quality. Children's rank orde r for message length and conventional details was maintained across ta sks. Evidence of maternal fine-tuning of scaffolding behaviors in resp onse to the child's independent level of print performance was reveale d in a qualitative analysis of dyadic interaction. Most mothers appear ed to have a sense of the developmental progression of writing skills.