The context and preliminary results of an ongoing research project involving parents in the University of Sheffield's (English) Early Literacy Development Project are described. The project developed programs involving at-home work with parents and in-school work for families with preschool children. Initial discussion identified four lines of research leading to the project; these include research on parental involvement in the teaching of reading, school attainment in literacy, preschool intervention for disadvantaged children, and emergent literacy. The discussion in this paper covers: (1) ideas basic to the approach of working with parents of preschool children to encourage the emergence of literacy; (2) programs of the Sheffield project; (3) ways of working with parents that maintain the flexibility required by a child-centered orientation and the structure required for coherent work and research; and (4) emerging findings. (RH)