Governments worldwide recognize the significance of Early Childhood Care and Development (ECDE) as the foundation for all students’ further academic success [1]. In this regard in Kenya, quality early childhood education is recogised as one of the most important pillars towards the attainment of Education for All (EFA); Vision 2030 as well as Social Development Goals (SDGs). The concept of early childhood education has a long history; it was started with European mothers in the early 1800s who educated children at homes [2]. In recent years, Early Childhood Development has emerged as a theme in international dialogue in education [3]. Despite the global need for pre-schoolers’ access to quality education, there has been a worrying trend of pre-primary children’s acquisition of basic literacy skills and competencies [4].

Basic literacy skills include the skills of numeracy, social, language and motor (Moon, 2014). Language skills include listening, speaking, reading and writing while basic numeracy skills are the ability of a child to understand and use fundamental mathematical skills like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division [5].

On the other hand, social skills are used by individuals to communicate and interact with other, both verbally and non-verbally, through gestures, body language and our personal appearance [6]. Social skills are essential in building both personal and interpersonal relationships [7]. The pre-primary children’s developments of motor skills are essential in the physical growth and strengthening of a child’s bones, muscles and ability to move [8].

At pre-primary teaching and learning, the core language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) are greatly emphasized [9]. Despite the emphasis, at the global scale, millions of children have not acquired the basic language skills even after being in school for more than eight years [4]. Further, according to UNESCO report of 2017, 250 million children globally have not acquired basic language skills even though a half of them have spent four years in school. With a lot of concern in Sub-Sahara Africa, 25% of the youth population are not able to read at all or part of a sentence (EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2014). 

In the 20th and 21st centuries, learners’ acquisition of basic literacy skills has become an indispensable part of educational curriculum in Iranian schools [10]. Despite all the efforts and investments devoted to cultivate and popularize English language among Iranian learners, the resultant outcome could not live up to the authorities' expectations whereby majority of learners lack core English language skills [11].

In South Africa, majority of learners usually experience reading, oral and writing difficulties [12]. In the National Systemic Evaluation, the overall literacy score for Grade 3 learners in the country was 35. 9% while only 44.2% of Grade 3 learners were able to read and 33.6% of them were able to write [13]. It was also found that, in the case of English medium scores, more than 70% of Grade 1 learners demonstrated zero reading comprehension [14]. These low levels of language competencies demonstrated by many South African learners in the foundational level is perceived to have catastrophic consequences not only for the learners themselves, but also for the country [12].

In other countries like Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania (Mainland), Tanzania (Zanzibar), Uganda and Zimbabwe; majority of grade six pupils still lack the basic language skills that they should have acquired at pre-primary centres [15]. In Zambia, standard two pupils were found to be struggling on literacy skills, that is, the average oral reading fluency rate for the local languages ranged from 1.84 to 8.40 words per minute, correct sounds production ranged from 3.68 to 9.63 letters per minute across the local languages, indicating poor foundation at pre-primary school level [16]. 

Despite the Government of Kenya’s effort to improve the education standard in the country, literacy achievement levels of learners are unsatisfactory with UWEZO report of 2010 showing a dismal reading ability among primary school pupils with over 92% being not able to read at class level. Studies done in Nairobi County further revealed that the percentage of class three pupils who could read class two story book was 69.77% [17]. The reading competency remains stagnant till the sixth reading assessment which showed no difference [18]. In Busia County, children’s acquisition of core language skills at early years of learning is low with only 36.9% (grade three) able to read grade two work, while 17.7% (grade two) able to read grade two work [18]. In Nyamira County, the percentage of grade three who could read a grade two level story book were only 35.48% while those in grade three who could read grade two level Kiswahili hadithi were only 44.57% [19].

On the other hand, the children’s adoption of pro-social behaviours in Kenya has been deteriorating in the past five years [20]. The pupils engage in different misconducts like disobedience, sneaking out of school and indiscipline cases are on the rise as from preschool level. In addition, Stima [21] observes that the number of primary school children in Kisii County had been found to involve themselves in all kinds of misbehaviours that include absenteeism and lack of respect for authority resulting into many school dropouts and poor academic performance in school. This brings some doubt on pre-primary children’s acquisition of social skill. 

Despite many countries’ effort to improve its basic education, the global unsatisfactory learners’ acquisition of basic literacy competencies in their early years of learning elicited debate on parental engagements which children who learn at this level. To date, there is no impressive solution to the problem, hence a need for the present study to investigate into the influence of home to school communication on pre-primary children’s acquisition basic literacy competencies that includes language skills, numeracy skills, social skills and motor skills in Manga Sub-County, Nyamira County.

In addressing the research problem, the study adopted correlational research design [22]. The study was conducted in Manga Sub-County, Nyamira County, Kenya. According to Manga Sub-County education office, only 15.7% of the parents were adequately involved in their preschoolers’ education. The study targeted 65 head teachers, 210 parents, 210 preschool children, 65 ECDE pre-school lead teachers and 3 ECDE divisional Coordinators. To obtain the sample for the study, the study used cluster, purposive and simple random sampling techniques. The study sample consisted of 20 head teachers, 136 preschool parents, 136 preschoolers, 65 ECDE lead teachers and 3 ECDE Divisional Coordinators. In order to collect required data, the study used Questionnaires and document analysis. The study adopted the triangulation approach to ensure the validity of the instruments. This involved the use of multiple methods to data collection (Campbell andFiske 1959). The reliability of the instrument was tested during the piloting stage using the test-retest method. Collected data was analysed and presented using both descriptive and inferential statistics.

The results are presented using both descriptive and inferential statistics.

Pre-Primary Children’s Acquisition of Basic Literacy Competencies

In order to establish pre-primary children’s acquisition of basic literacy competencies, a rating scale was adopted from the Kenya School Readiness Assessment Tool. The lead teachers were required to rate the sampled pre-primary children. The lead teachers’ responses are summarized in Table 1.

The survey results reveal that there was a generally moderate level of acquisition of basic literacy competencies among preschool learners in Manga Sub-County. This was reflected by an overall rating of 2.771 at 95% CI [2.712, 2.843] in the literacy competencies scale of 1 to 5. This implies that many of the preschool learners only exhibited moderate or below-average skills in most of the basic literacy competency indicators. The findings of the study show that language competencies were rated the least at 2.174 among the basic literacy skill, meaning that many of the preschoolers lacked core language skills. For example, the mean rating in all the indicators of language competencies were all rated between 2.12 to 2.25, indicating that many of them were not able to use appropriate vocabulary for their level of maturity such as tell any short story, sounds letters of the alphabet correctly, complete simple writing pattern based on letters and to read and write three-letter words correctly.

However, the children had the highest competencies in social skills at a mean rating of 3.62, with the indicators ranging from 3.12 to 4.36, indicating slightly above moderate rating in social skills. However, this reflects that although many of the children could play cooperatively with other children, at least follow some rules given by a teacher/adult, demonstrate some self-control in different situations, follow class routines and identify some landmarks near their home, not all could effectively display these social skills. 

Regarding, numeracy competencies, the children had a mean rating of 2.90, an indication that they, on average, had moderate abilities in numeracy skills. Whereas they had a mean rating of above 3.00 in rote counting of numbers 1-50, comparison of size/heaviness of objects and in the matching of numbers with equivalent real objects/items, they recorded lower rating in performing operations (put together/take away) on numbers (mean=2.31), identification of different shapes (mean=2.93) and telling different times of the day based on daily routine (mean=2.48).

Table 1: Rating of Basic Literacy Competencies by L/Teacher (n=116)

Key: 1.00-1.80 (Very low); 1.81-2.60 (Low); 2.61-3.40 (Moderate), .41-4.20 (High); 4.21-5.00 (Very high)

Source: Survey data (2019)

Table 2: Basic Literacy Competencies Children Rating Frequencies

Source: Survey data (2019)

Table 3: Preschool Parents’ Response on their Involvement in Home-School Communication (n=116)

Key: SA-Strongly Agree (5); A-Agree (4); U-Undecided (3); Disagree (2); SD-Strongly Disagree (1), Source: Survey data (2019)

Equally, on motor Competencies, the children had a mean rating of 2.38. This indicates that many of the children had low motor competencies. For instance, only the item “throwing a ball at a target” received an above-average rating (mean=2.92), but the rest of the indicators had ratings less than 2.50. This means that most of the children were not able to satisfactorily perform basic motor skills, like to catch a ball thrown at some distance (mean=2.23), to make coordinated movement in a singing game (mean=2.26), to paste shapes to form artwork (mean=2.29), to model different objects using clay/plasticine (mean=2.44) or to make simple structures using locally available materials (mean=2.19).

Table 2 shows the mean average literacy competencies rating frequencies among the preschool children in Manga Sub-County.

From Table 2, it is clear that many preschoolers had a low average mean rating in basic literacy competencies, with 27.6% of them having either low or very low literacy competency ratings. The children with moderate literacy competencies formed more than half (57.8%) of the children who took part in the survey, while only 14.6% of them had appropriate competencies in basic literacy. This finding confirms that many children in pre-primary schools in Manga Sub-County lack adequate competencies in language, numeracy, motor and social skills.

The study findings reveal that although many preschool parents believed they are effectively involved in the home to school communication, others agreed that they were not adequately involved. This implies that some of them accepted that their involvement is generally low. This was reflected by a mean rating of 4.10 on a scale of 1 to 5, with item ratings ranging from a low of 2.05 to a high of 4.62. For instance, although three out of four 86 (74.1%) of the preschool parents disagreed that they waited for their teachers to call them whenever they had not paid the school fees, some 21(18.1%) of them accepted that they always wait for payment reminders from teachers, while 9(7.8%) remained non-committal on the statement. This item attracted a mean rating of 2.05, implying that they sometimes wait for their teacher to call them when they have not paid the school fees. This intimate that not all parents are responsible for their children’s academic welfare and only occasionally always pay school fees in time. The finding is in line with that of Tuyisenge [23], who did a study on determinants of parents’ involvement in their pre-school children’s education, which established that parents only moderately participated in activities relating to education due to daily business engagements which paused a challenge to them thus limiting their capacity to involve themselves fully in their children’s education.

Likewise, the study found that although most 89 (76.7%) of the parents participated in parent meetings, not all of them attended those meetings, as reflected by a mean rating of 4.18. For example, 14(12.1%) of the respondents remained neutral but some 13(11.2%) others confirmed that they do not participate in parent meetings regularly. This shows that not all of the parents are readily willing to attend school meetings, to be part of the planning and running of the school.

The study also found out that although 98 (84.4%) of the preschool parents communicated with the teachers about their children’s school results, 4(3.4%) of the parents indicated otherwise while another 13(9.5%) of the parents neither agreed nor disagreed that they communicated with teachers on a child’s performance, translating a mean rating of 4.47. This shows that owing to good teacher-parent communication, some parents are able to monitor their children’s academic performance, but others do not. The finding is in line with that of Michele [25], who conducted a descriptive study aimed at determining how teachers and parents perceive the role of parental involvement and the teacher-parent relationship on children’s achievement. The results findings illuminated the importance of teacher-parent relationships in children’s growth and development. 

The results of the survey showed that 85 (73.3%) of the parents agreed that the teacher communicates with them on their child’s behavior, while 4 (3.4%) indicated otherwise and 16 (13.8%) of the parents neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement. Generally, the preschool parents scored a mean of 4.50 on the item indicating that although many parents were satisfied that their teacher communicates with them on their child’s behavior, some of them were in disagreement. This could imply that parents who have a good relationship with teachers communicate freely with the teachers, helping them to know the behavior of their children so as to provide corrective measures for deviant behaviors. This finding is consistent with that of Kathure who conducted a study to examine the levels of parental involvement in children’s reading; especially at lower primary school level in Igembe South, Meru County Kenya. The study found a significant relationship between parents’ role construction and their involvement in the modeling, cognitive and behavioral dimensions among their children.

The results of the survey indicate that 93 (80.2%) of the respondents confirmed that they communicated with the teachers about how their children felt at school, while 14(12.1%) of the parents said they hardly communicated with the teachers about how their children felt at school, but 8 (6.9%) of the parents were neutral on this statement. Generally, the item attracted a mean rating of 4.16, an indication that although many of the parents agreed that they always communicate with the teachers about how their children felt at school, not all of them were in agreement. However, the study established that to facilitate efficient communication, most 105(90.5%) of the parents use the mobile number of their children’s class teacher to discuss with them their child’s problems, reflecting a mean rating of 4.62. However, 2(1.7%) of the parents who took part in the survey do not use phones to talk to teachers, while only 7(6.0%) were neutral on the study matter. This shows that through mobile phone communications there is effective teacher-parent communication and parents are able to know the feelings of their children.

Likewise, the study found out that, although most 94(81.0%) parents are able to talk to the subject teachers of their children about the children strength and weakness through parent-teacher communication, some 5(4.3%) the parents confirmed that they hardly talk to the subject teachers of their children about the children strength and weakness, but 16(13.8%) of them remained neutral on the same. 16(13.8%) of the parents who took part in the study agreed they hardly discuss with the teachers about their children’s academic progress, but almost three-quarters of the parents at 85(73.3%) of the parents alluded that they mostly (mean=4.50) discuss with the teachers about their child’s academic progress and some 13(11.2%) of the parents remained neutral on the statement. This suggests that the academic progress of the learners concerning their strengths and weakness are positively influenced by proper and effective communication between the parent and the teachers. The present finding is in support of a study conducted in the USA by Kraft, Matthew and Shaun (2011) to evaluate the efficacy of teacher communication with parents and students as a means of increasing student engagement, which found out that frequent teacher-parent communication immediately increased student engagement as measured by homework completion rates, on-task behavior and class participation. 

The study found that although 87(75.0%) of the parents agreed that they talk or discuss the activities their children like at home through effective communication between parents and teachers, 18(15.5%) of them indicated that they hardly discuss their children’s activities at home with the teachers, translating to a mean response of 4.06. This shows that although many teachers believe that they are able to monitor the child while at home which helps them manage effectively the social and academic progress of the child both at home and at school, some thought otherwise. The finding is partly supported by Michelle [24] who conducted a study in the USA on the influence of parent-teacher interactions on students’ social development, which had established that the nature of parent-teacher interactions is either collaborative or non-collaborative. The study further established that parents and teachers hold similar views on what practices make their interactions collaborative; however, they have different perspectives on what constituted non-collaborative practices.

Regression Analysis: Influence of Home-School Communication on Acquisition of Basic Literacy Competencies in Preschool Education.

H0: There is no statistically significant influence of home-school communication on the acquisition of basic literacy competencies in pre-primary education.

To investigate the influence of home-school communication on the acquisition of basic literacy competencies in pre-primary education, the null hypothesis was tested using simple linear regression analysis, with the investigated null hypothesis being H0: β0 = 0 and the corresponding alternative hypothesis being H1: β0 ≠ 0. If the null hypothesis is true, then from E(Y) = β0 + β0X the population mean of Y is β0 for every X value, which indicates that X (home-school communication) has no influence on Y (acquisition of basic literacy competencies) and the alternative being that home-school communication is associated to the acquisition of basic literacy competencies. The significant level (p-value) was set at .05, such that if the p-value was less than 0.05, the null hypothesis would be rejected and conclusion reached that a significant difference exists. If the p-value was larger than 0.05, it would be concluded that a significant difference does not exist. Table 4shows a regression model on the influence of home-school communication on the acquisition of basic literacy competencies in pre-primary education.

The model summary reveals that home to school communication accounted for 23.9% (Adjusted R2=.239) of the variation in the acquisition of basic literacy competencies among preschool children.

Table 4: Model Summary- Influence on Home-School Communication on Acquisition of Basic Literacy Competencies

a. Predictors: (Constant), Home to School Communication b. Dependent Variable: Acquisition of basic literacy competency

Table 5: Regression Coefficients: Influence of Home to School Communication on Acquisition of Basic Literacy Competencies

a. Dependent Variable: Acquisition of Basic Literacy Competencies, Y = α + βX2 + Ɛ, where Y= Acquisition of basic literacy competency; X2= Home to School Communication and ε is the error term Y = 30.436 + 9.527X2 + ε.

This finding suggests that variation in the level of parental involvement in the home to school communication explained 23.9% of the variability acquisition of basic literacy competencies among preschoolers. Further, the study sought to explore the relationship between parental involvement in the home to school communication and preschoolers’ acquisition of basic literacy competencies. The results are presented in Table 5.

From the analysis, there is a statistically significant positive unstandardized co-efficient of 9.527 within a 95% C.I (6.428, 12.625) as indicated by the coefficient matrix. Given that there is a significant p-value (t= 6.091; p<.05) of the unstandardized co-efficient value, there is sufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis (β2 = 0). Hence, the alternative hypothesis was supported and it was concluded that there is a statistically significant influence of home to school communication on the acquisition of basic literacy competencies in pre-primary education. An improvement of parental involvement in the home to school communication by one-unit results in 9.527 units of improvement in the level of acquisition of basic literacy competencies among the preschoolers. On the same note, an improvement of parental involvement in the home to school communication by one standard deviation results in an improvement of acquisition of basic literacy competencies by 0.496 standard deviations, as reflected by the Beta value of 0.496. These findings are in line with that of El Nokaliet al. whose study found positive connections between family involvement at school and children’s academic outcomes.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the influence of home to school communication on the acquisition of basic literacy competencies among pre-primary children. The results of the study established a moderate involvement of preschool parents at home to school communication. It was further established that although many preschool parents believed that they were effectively involved in the home to school communication, others agreed that they were not adequately involved, but most parents were not effectively involved in the home-school communication process. Nonetheless, the findings of the study established a statistically significant positive influence of home to school communication on the acquisition of basic literacy competencies among preschoolers. The variation in the level of parental involvement in the home to school communication explained less than one out of the four cases of the variability in acquisition of basic literacy competencies among the preschoolers. Further, the study showed that the level of acquisition of basic literacy competencies among the preschoolers can be significantly predicted from the level of parental involvement in the home to school communication.

Based on the current findings, it is recommended that: The board of management of primary school should organize seminars with parents to discuss on the importance of parental involvement in terms of frequent home to school communication so as to improve pre-primary children’s acquisition of literacy competencies, the Ministry of Education should organize a course or seminar to equip parents with necessary skills related to appropriate parental involvement practises and children’s acquisition of basic literacy competencies in line with the new competency based curriculum. Parents should also provide material, emotional and educational support to their pre-primary children. This is because the current study established that a good number of children lived in home environment characterized by parental low engagement in pre-primary children’s learning. The pre-primary teachers should sensitize parents with children at pre-primary centres on the importance of parental engagement in terms of effective and frequent home to school communication.

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