Whatever the source of funding for family literacy or the form it takes, this guide provides an overview of the funding process and provides suggestions for solving the fund-raising mysteries. It notes that the good news is that there are a wide variety of sources and aid available to family literacy programs, but the bad news is that it is a…

Focusing on advocacy (as distinct from lobbying) at the federal level of government, the purpose of this guide is to help develop and implement an action plan for family literacy advocacy. Its advice may be adapted to state and local elected officials as well as those in the non-political environment. Sections of the guide address advocating for…

Raising Early Achievement in Literacy is a British family literacy project in which educators recognize that adult learning is different; parents are experts on their own children and have views on literacy; and bilingual parents may have different needs. Listening to families is a key principle of the project. (SK)

Discusses family literacy and English as a Second Language, focusing on types of family literacy programs, issues in family literacy, and future directions in family literacy. Highlights one program and lists the components of three approaches to family literacy: intervention prevention, multiple literacies, and social change. (Author/VWL)

Considers how educators can assist parents in supporting their children toward a positive educational experience through language arts. Describes a class for parents that offered a different approach to helping students meet the state standards. (SG)

Provides percentages of children ages 3 to 5 who were read to, told a story, or taken to the library by a parent or other family member. (Author/SLD)

Uses the evaluation of a family literacy program as the basis for an analysis of the benefits of collaborative evaluation. Identifies enhanced learning, efficient data collection and problem planning, deepened professional and personal relationships, and strengthened convictions as results of the collaboration. (SLD)

Observes and interviews three families in a public library over an 18-month period. Notes that the traditional link of parents reading to children was not present, yet other caring, personal, and powerful links to literacy were. Argues that awareness of diverse family experiences linking love to literacy provides platforms upon which educators can…

Explores the bi-directional benefits of family literacy practices involving English as a Second Language (ESL) immigrant parents and their children. Discusses the literature on family literacy and culturally relevant texts. Shares and analyzes the case of a shared reading practice. Suggests that this informal family literacy practice could help to…

Describes a program where each family shares a story in its native language and the children then provide an English translation when the original was a language other than English. Concludes with the hope that through fostering relationships with students and their families, all can benefit from the merging of the school and home cultures. (SG)

Evaluation of an early literacy initiative in which free books and literacy information were given to 40 caregivers of infants. Compared book-related activity in the home before and 2 months after the program. Results showed significant increases in book ownership and frequency of mothers and babies looking at children's books together. (SK)

Presents an overview of the Prime Time Family Reading Time program, a family literacy program that is based in public libraries and incorporates the presentation of children's literature with the discussion of humanities-based questions for low literacy, at-risk parents and their children aged six and older. (Author/LRW)

Using a situated cognition framework, 24 vignettes of literacy practices were examined in 4 Canadian settings: community-based, workplace, family, and school-based literacy. Literacy researchers appear constrained by behaviorist, normative perspectives despite the shift toward humanist perspectives. (Contains 51 references.) (SK)

Examines Asian American children's literature. Suggests that four representations of memory in Asian American children's literature (memory as recovery, as cultural change, as catharsis, and as border crossing) compose an empowering discourse for Asian and Asian American students negotiating competing cultural and economic motives in American…

Discusses the author's experience as a kindergarten teacher with students who have had a wide range of literacy within the home. Notes how some parents "misuse" the "Hooked on Phonics" program and their children gain no benefit from it. Proposes that educators lower "the legal reading age," providing all children--even the youngest ones--with…