ACF Banner
[NCCIC header image][NCCIC Header Image]

Facilitated Work Group: Involving Families in Literacy Efforts

Facilitator: Marta Rosa, Executive Director, Child Care Resource Center, Inc., Massachusetts.
Group Scribe: Rae Anderson, State Technical Assistance Specialist, Region 7, National Child Care Information Center
Note Taker: Billie Warford, State Technical Assistance Specialist, Region 8, National Child Care Information Center

KEY ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Challenges to Involving Families in Early Literacy
There are numerous barriers to parents' involvement in literacy activities: lack of transportation, multiple child care settings, meeting times that conflict with work or family time, and language and cultural differences. Families do not have time (many are working two jobs) and have busy lives, regardless of income level.

English as a Second Language
Many communities are composed of families who speak different languages, and many of these families either have a limited understanding of English or don't speak it at all. It is, therefore, a challenge for programs to communicate. They often don't have the resources to translate materials, create bilingual programs, or provide staff who can bridge the gap. Is it realistic to expect parents to take English as a Second Language classes? What can be done to make these programs more "family friendly?" Would it be effective to use television to bring English classes into the home?

Support of Parents and Parenting
Parents lack information on child development, including language development. Parenting is an "oral" tradition—information is shared among families, neighbors, and friends. There is an inherent delay in how parents learn to parent. Families need more support to understand how children develop, how early childhood learning is the foundation for literacy, and what they can do to support their children's learning.

It is important to think carefully and strategically about the messages we send to parents and the ways those messages are sent. While "school readiness" is a current popular topic, parents may not understand what "getting ready for school" means. Similarly, although parents have been told for years that they are the first and most important teachers of their children, have they been helped to understand what is meant by that message? One challenge is developing materials for parents that are clear, understandable and useful. Parents also receive conflicting or at least inconsistent messages from the media, particularly around the interpretation of research, which can cause parents to be confused about what they can do.

Parents need help in learning how to infuse literacy activities as part of the day—driving to work, doing household chores, and carrying out other daily activities—and need to know the importance of these simple activities to a growing child's development of language. Parents want to do more than "talk and read" to their children; they feel this is not doing enough. Parents and the general public often have the attitude that "children are not learning because they are playing." Parents may not understand the importance of reading and how important it is to read to their children.

Strengthening Relationships Between Families and Caregivers
A further complication is the lack of consistency in the understanding of messages about and activities related to literacy between families and caregivers. Conversations and activities that help strengthen the relationship between families and caregivers should be encouraged. Numerous community and State-level initiatives have focused on consumer education (how to identify quality care), but it is difficult to determine the success of these efforts.

While the number of children receiving care outside the home continues to increase, many still stay at home. The early childhood profession is challenged to reach the parents of these children and to offer them appropriate support.

Schools need to be more engaged in literacy activities in communities, which in turn will encourage families to be more involved. Parents' own negative experiences in school may keep them from being involved.

Pediatricians also need to know more about literacy. All professionals working with families need to be able to convey information in a manner that can be understood and is respectful of the families' educational level and cultural traditions. Helping professionals recognize that all parents want the best for their children should be a goal of those who train and interact with those professionals. Parents need to be supported to be advocates for their child.

Literacy Initiatives

  • Public television's Ready to Learn is an example of the use of television as a literacy medium, and one that provides support materials for parents and providers to extend the learning.
  • Albertson's Foundation is providing grants for Parents as Teachers training in Idaho and has made funds available to support PBS' Ready to Learn.
  • Reach Out and Read is using pediatricians (an "authoritative voice") to deliver information to parents. County health departments are also partners.
  • Kansas City Early Learning Opportunity Act (ELOA) grant money is being used to train teachers and directors to more effectively engage low-literacy parents.
  • Missouri Public Schools have been successful in increasing linkages between providers, parents and schools through grants to communities.
  • San Francisco is using a child-driven public education message, giving books to children to take home and "read to me." The program is working with Head Start, National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) affiliates, child care providers and public schools.
  • Idaho is working to improve the quality of early childhood programs by making funds available for NAEYC accreditation and TEACH.
  • Cambridge, Massachusetts, is using public libraries to send packets to new parents that include child development information and a book bag.
  • Scholastic Books has developed interactive software called the "Class Homepage Builder." Parents get the password and can log on and get current classroom information. Scholastic also sponsors book fairs and events.

Resources Available to support Federal, State and Local Action

  • PBS.org;
  • Child Care Aware;
  • The Council of Chief State School Officers;
  • Committee for Economic Development's "Preschool for All" report;
  • Connection to ABE-adult learning;
  • New Early Reading First grant money, coming from the U.S. Department of Education to local education agencies;
  • I Am Your Child Foundation;
  • First Book, a national nonprofit organization, which works with existing literacy programs to distribute new books to children who have little or no access to books.
  • National Board of Early Childhood Teachers;
  • Pizza Hut Book It;
  • National League of Cities' priority on early childhood;
  • Parents as Partners; and
  • Faith-based organizations.

HIGHLIGHTS OF RECOMMENDATIONS

  • Create universal access to quality early childhood and literacy programs that are respectful of families' cultures and languages. There is a need for more family support programs linked to early childhood programs and schools.
  • Create core areas of agreement regarding research on literacy. Make it available in multiple languages to parents, caregivers, teachers, businesses, communities, and policy-makers, with consistent messages about the importance of literacy.
  • Provide funds to train early childhood practitioners about literacy, language development, and how to respect families' cultures and languages. Practitioners also need to be sensitive to the literacy levels of families when they send materials home. Materials must be culturally relevant, sensitive, and respectful.
  • Promote partnerships among local libraries, child care resource and referral agencies, community health departments, and local schools. These can be highly effective in reaching families with literacy information. Local cities can be partners to raise the visibility of the importance of early childhood and literacy and need to be involved in planning and development of community activities.
  • Inform pediatricians about literacy and encourage them to make appropriate referrals to family support programs in their communities.
  • Educate policy-makers on the importance of the early years for language development. Build a common vision and language among stakeholders across programs. Get out the message—"pay now or pay later." Make the economic case for why literacy is so important.
  • Launch a mass media campaign using children as the messengers. Similar campaigns for seat belts, littering, and smoking were effectively received by adults when the message was carried by the children. Giving children books to take home gives the child "tools" to engage the parent, older sibling, and/or other adult in the home to sit down and read the books with them.
  • Encourage the corporate community to be a strong partner with community programs in support of early literacy by making funds available to support local coalitions, provide books and materials, and promote literacy in the workplace.
  • Reduce turnover in the child care workforce by paying higher wages and creating stronger relationships between providers and parents to communicate about literacy.
  • Improve access to educational opportunities for parents using television and videos, particularly in providing English as a Second Language programs.
  • Connect to home-based programs through home visits focused on literacy.

    • Continue
    on to Facilitated Work Group Summary: Language and Early Literacy in Infant and Toddler Care

    Return to the main page
    of Literacy in Early Care and Education Settings: National Leadership Forum Summary Materials