The Ecology of Parent-Child Communications about Daily Experiences in Preschool and Day Care

The main purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and valid method of describing the ecology of parent-child communication about children's daily experiences in preschool and day care. Ninety parents whose preschool children attended university-based preschool/day care programs in two southeastern communities, completed a 50 item checklist designed to assess the frequency, content, and context of parent-child communication about school. Results indicated that parents and children communicated most frequently on weekdays, particularly when the parent picked the child up from school, at meal times, and when the other parent returned home from work. Topics of conversation focused on the child and his/her good friends, as well as outside play, learning activities, and special events. Children, particularly girls, often communicated by describing, asking questions, and performing. Mothers initiated conversations most frequently, particularly with their younger children, though fathers and children did so quite often. Further, conversations were most often triggered by daily routines and parental observations of children at school. Finally, the validity of the checklist instrument was examined by comparing it to observational diaries kept by a sub-sample of parents and to ratings obtained from the children's teachers.