Recent efforts to motivate parents' involvement in their child's literacy development involve informing parents about how to incorporate literacy development into daily routines. Teacher leadership and communication are critical--the more teachers encourage and assist parents and caregivers in supporting their child's literacy development, the…

Existing literature acknowledges the potential variances between home and school in the values, priorities, aspirations, and practices surrounding literacy. Some researchers have approached this dilemma by offering programs to educate parents in ways of the school. Other researchers suggest that schools need to be more inclusive of home practices…

High-quality writing instruction needs to permeate elementary students' in- and outside-of-school experiences. The aim of this research was to explore how teaching writing to parents may support home-school literacy connections. This qualitative case study explored parents' experiences in interactive writing sessions. The descriptive coding and…

The current research builds upon the sociocultural orientation to family literacy with the creation of a community-based family literacy experience, "the preschoolers' book club," for a group of white, middle-class preschool children and their families. These families and their shared literacy experiences were framed as a set of…

The purpose of this study was to examine how a family literacy text linked to a large-scale, U.S.-based family literacy program either privileged or disprivileged dominant, Eurocentric literacy practices. More specifically, this study investigated the ways in which the family literacy text: (1) conceptualized literacy; and (2) constructed the role…

The purpose of this case study was to investigate the home literacy practices of parents who take on dual roles as both teachers of literacy to their children and students in General Education Development (GED[R]) programs. We interviewed 12 GED teacher-student parents to explore how literacy practices within the home environment affected both the…

This paper presents tips that parents can use to help their children become proficient readers. They are: (1) Talk to your children and then listen; (2) Create a language-rich environment; (3) Read with your children; (4) Help students find reading materials (5) When giving gifts or asked for gift ideas for your child, recommend books, magazine…

From an early age, young children, when given the opportunity, demonstrate their interest and enthusiasm for writing. Toddlers spontaneously pick up pencils and crayons to make marks on paper, walls, and floors. Preschoolers' scribbles are indications of their growing understanding of how print and story work. Their oral stories are often…

Families are children's first educators and play a critical role in young children's literacy development. Young children's success as readers is related to their early literacy experiences in the home. Family literacy practices determine young children's literacy skills prior to formal instruction. However, families may not be aware of best…

Summer reading loss is a documented reality for many students. It is often of greatest concern for those who are already at risk, who typically have limited access to reading materials at home and whose parents or caregivers may be reluctant or unsure of how to help. By raising parents' awareness of the importance of supporting their children's…

Interviews parents and guardians of 7,566 preschoolers and toddlers. Finds that frequency of reading to children varies by ethnicity, primary language spoken in the home, child's age, number of siblings, and mother's educational attainment; and that income and number of parents in the home did not influence reading frequency when controlling for…

The family's influence on children's learning accounts for 80 percent of variance in students' academic performance. The present study, framed by the concept of human development within ecological contexts as elaborated by Bronfenbrenner (1979), investigated literacy practices and views of parents with limited literacy skills who participated in a…

Examined how the implementation of a family literacy program for parents in a new immigrant Hispanic community provided knowledge about specific ways to enhance children's literacy learning at home. Surveys of participating mothers indicated that involved families had richer literacy knowledge and skills, used more literacy practices, and had a…

To investigate the recommendation that children practice reading aloud at home, conversations of 3rd graders reading to their mothers were audiotaped, transcribed, and coded. Conversations between below-average readers and their mothers were marked by the frequent use of error corrections. College-educated mothers asked significantly more…

A summary of the research on adult literacy indicated factors which make an effective program: recruitment of students centered on personal contacts, individual intake conferences, and sensitive and compassionate teachers with high morale about the program. A summary of the research in preschool literacy programs stressed that factors associated…