Young children's use of touch screen tablets for writing and reading at home: Relationships with emergent literacy

• Pre-schoolers' home use of tablets and emergent literacy is examined.
• Positive association found between access to apps and print knowledge.
• Positive association found between writing with tablets and print and sound knowledge.
• Tablet writing may be a key activity for early literacy learning.

Young children's literacy experiences at home shape the development of emergent literacy skills. Due to the increasing use of touch screen tablets (e.g., iPads) in homes and early education settings it is important to investigate the relationship between digital tools and emergent literacy. The present study examined the relationships between children's (N = 57; aged 2–4 years) emergent literacy skills and home use of tablets for writing and reading. Correlational analysis showed a positive association between children's access to apps and print knowledge. A positive association was found between the frequency of writing with tablets and print awareness, print knowledge, and sound knowledge. No associations occurred between emergent literacy skills and frequency of e-book reading. Further research is needed to investigate the effects of tablet writing on emergent literacy development.