A young writer at home and in school

Abstract

This study is a qualitative case study of one writer, my daughter Zoe, over a period of two years comparing her writing at home with the writing completed at school during kindergarten and first grade. This study involves descriptions, interpretations, and analyses of Zoe's writing, including the processes and products across the two settings. There are two frames through which the writer and her writing are described, analyzed, and interpreted in this study. The first frame focuses on the purposes for and functions of Zoe's writing activity at home and in school. This includes our present understanding of written language development in terms of purposes and functions, the conditions writers require in order to write, determinants of written language, and the various systems upon which writers rely to make meaning. The second frame through which Zoe's writing is described, interpreted, and analyzed in this study focuses on the nature of the two settings, the home and the school. The settings are analyzed in terms of the activities and experiences in which the writer engages within each setting. The goal of this study is to understand the nature of a young child's writing activity across the home/school settings by analyzing the writing she did in each of those settings. The impact of the social nature of the settings upon her writing activity are also considered. A theoretical framework for written language use and development is presented and discussed as a vehicle for understanding and developing writing programs and developing supportive relationships between the school and the home.