This is the first installment of a two-part series about creating opportunities in adult education to address family literacy.
Read Part 2 here.
As a teacher and specialist in adult literacy education, I believe our greatest allies and partners in creating family literacy programs are adult students who are parents themselves. These adults are already experts on their own children’s development, and for many, the desire to help their children is the reason they enter basic literacy, adult basic education, or high school diploma programs.
Although they may desire to do otherwise, we often see adult students leave the entire responsibility for teaching their children to daycare workers, preschool teachers, librarians, and kindergarten and elementary school teachers. These parents may lack confidence about what they already know and may not have the right tools to help their children get started learning at home. By the time a child reaches third or fourth grade, his or her parents may have missed opportunities for creating a solid foundation for further education, such as being a role model for reading and learning, building a home library, and providing the bonding experiences created by family read-alouds.
Family literacy, particularly for those adults who are still working to build their own basic skills, is more than reading to children. It calls for books and other materials that are not only age appropriate but targeted for various sets of skills where the parent can lead the child. It calls for opportunities to expose parents to research which affirms and expands upon what they already observe and know about their own children, and provides tools, support, and feedback.
Quality family literacy work aims to engage parents in understanding the layout, sequence, and overall content of children’s books. Beginning with board books, for example, parents can be introduced to comprehension activities, such as acting out the story line and making meaningful connections to their own lives. Next, parents can learn how to introduce reading skills to their children in a way that parallels their own instruction. Parents need to go home with books and materials they learn with during their own instruction, use them with their children, and report back about their parent–child literacy experiences.
Family literacy also requires time, which is usually in short supply. Adults rush in and out of their classes while juggling jobs, day care schedules, and appointments. Therefore, adult literacy teachers who are parents of young children should consider providing family literacy work as a significant portion of time during a regularly scheduled lesson or class.
A workshop or series of workshops about family literacy practice where child care is provided and where other family members can attend might also be considered as long as feedback and follow-up support are a part of the workshop. Whatever format works to include family literacy, sharing research about language and literacy development always sparks interest and questions.
Jeanne H. Smith is a literacy specialist at the Community High School of Vermont and a member of the Special Services Support team. CHSVT serves students 18 years of age and older.