Background: South Africa has one of the lowest-performing education systems in the world. By the fourth grade, many learners are already 2 or more years behind their peers, especially in mathematics and literacy. Family literacy programmes as a form of home-school partnership are often proposed as an early intervention to support early literacy…

The purpose of the present study was to explore the dimensionality of the English home language and literacy environment (HLLE) construct in multilingual home settings for fourth- and fifth-grade emergent bilinguals. The authors also evaluated a framework of mediating mechanisms underlying the effects of emergent bilinguals' English HLLE on…

In the present study, we analysed the relations among the quality of mother-child shared reading, child's storytelling and family literacy environment. The sample included 20 mother-child dyads, with 5-year-old children, who were recorded during shared reading. The quality of shared reading was assessed with the "Scale for Observing Shared…

Theory of mind (ToM) skills involve young children's mentalizing ability to be aware of their own selves and other individuals' thoughts, beliefs, desires, and intentions (mental states). The social cognition skills are essential for processing complex social relations and overcoming interpersonal difficulties in communication. Previous studies…

In the past few decades, scholars and practitioners have given increasing attention to the experiences of families affected by trauma related to substance use, homelessness, and incarceration. As parents seek to restore and maintain parental bonds during traumatic separations and transitions, interdisciplinary family literacy interventions can be…

Early literacy is largely acquired through child-led learning, yet current ways to support and enhance it may present problems of coercion and adult control. The "Following in our Footsteps II" intervention sought to circumvent such problems by teaching parent and educator pairs of 46 preschoolers how to make everyday literacy and…

This article assesses the extent to which children's language preference and their home environment matter for literacy retention. Using data from the Complementary Basic Education (CBE) program in Ghana, the authors found that large numbers of disadvantaged students reverted to not even being able to read a single word following school closures…

This article describes the needs analysis, implementation and outcomes of a pilot program aimed at creating books with families in ways that represent their language and culture. "Creating Books in Communities" is part of "Better Beginnings," a state-wide program, developed by the State Library of Western Australia, for…

Family engagement is pivotal to student development and academic achievement, particularly for students of color with disabilities and those from historically underserved culturally and linguistically diverse communities (Delale-O'Connor et al., 2020; Fehrer & Tognozzi, 2018; Impact of Family Engagement, n.d.). Unfortunately, the…

Research Findings: The current study examined the use of a newly developed instrument for measuring parental literacy beliefs in a highly diverse urban Dutch sample of 35 parents, participating in a family literacy program. The instrument was used to explore a new conceptualization of parental literacy beliefs and associations between beliefs and…

This article features a multilingual family literacy project to enhance family engagement in children's literacy development. First, the authors expand the emerging framework of translanguaging beyond the individual competency toward a collaborative practice across family/community members and diverse sign systems. Then, the authors describe how a…

Parents who participate in family literacy and family learning programs gain new skills and knowledge through Family Service Learning projects. They increase their social capital and self-efficacy, especially developing leadership and advocacy skills, when they focus on issues of concern and relevance on behalf of themselves and their children. A…

Educators and researchers consider vocabulary development foundational in young children's language and literacy learning and for academic achievement; adult-child shared book reading is potentially a rich site for word learning and concept development. In this article, we report on how an immigrant father and his four year old daughter, English…

This study examined the free book giving program of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library and its influence upon storybook reading and early literacy within one county-wide setting in the United States. Family literacy and early literacy experiences are known to be critical to young children's literacy development. The study found that children who…

Educators continue to advocate for increased family involvement in the education system, so there is value in understanding the reading and literacy histories, beliefs, and actions of parents. It is important for educators to recognize these dynamics because parents not only bring their children to school but they also "bring" the prior…