Dear Parent,

You are invited to participate in a study of parent’s beliefs about three common activities which many children enjoy—make-believe play, drawing and reading. We are interested in your opinions about these three activities, and we would also like to know a little about your child’s playing, drawing and reading habits. The knowledge gained from this research could help psychologists, educators and parents better understand how adult beliefs impact children’s development. Also, this knowledge could help teachers and parents work together to encourage children’s competence in these different activities.

For this research project, we simply ask that you take the time to complete and submit the following questionnaire to us. It should take about a half hour, at most, to finish.

We are only interested in group data, so that no individual can be identified by name with the results of this project. Records involving your responses will be maintained with confidentiality (and these consent forms will be kept separate from the completed questionnaires). Your participation is entirely voluntary and you are free to stop working on the questionnaire at any time. There is no penalty or loss of benefits for you or your children for not participating or withdrawing participation. You may either submit to us what you have completed or opt to send us nothing at all. We don’t foresee this project causing any risks or discomfort for you or your children beyond a minimal loss of privacy and minimal intrusion into the habits of you and your child.

We hope that you will participate in this project. To indicate your decision about whether you understand the nature of your participation in this project, please check the appropriate box below. Should you decide to participate, we thank you very much for your help!

Sincerely,

Gregory Braswell

Assistant Professor

Illinois State University