Text Messaging Programs to Support Family Literacy Practices: A Scoping Review

Using bulk digital text messaging has been shown to be effective in many different fields such as health program interventions and supporting parents/carers. Evaluations of these interventions indicate positive changes in practice; however, it appears the potential of digital messaging through short message services (SMS) have not been fully taken advantage of in early childhood education. This scoping review using Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) approach investigates the current practices of text messaging programs to support families in the development of preschool aged children’s language and literacy learning. Searches of five databases identified 16 articles that fitted our criteria. Results indicate: (1) digital text messaging programs are an under-utilised tool for supporting families in preschool education, (2) there is a scarcity of peer-reviewed research exploring the use of text messaging programs in early childhood education, (3) text messaging programs are helpful in increasing parent-child interactions and supporting home literacy practices and, (4) engaging parents and/or caregivers via text messaging programs can be a highly effective home-school transition strategy.