First Steps In Promoting Family Literacy
Designing Activities to Promote Family Literacy
Insights from Head Start Literacy Demonstration Projects
Appendix A: Selected Family Literacy Resources
I. Family Literacy Publications
II. Literacy Catalogues
III Information About Literacy
IV. Literacy Organizations
Introduction
The primary goal of Head Start is to promote the development of social competence in the young children it serves. To effectively meet this goal, Head Start has long recognized the importance of supporting parents' efforts to attain family self- sufficiency and to be their child's first and most important teacher. Today, adult illiteracy limits the economic self-sufficiency of many Head Start families; furthermore, an inter generational cycle of illiteracy, low expectations, and frustration threatens the development of Head Start children. Head Start must respond by incorporating a family-centered approach to promoting the literacy development of the families it serves.
Family literacy programs support parents in improving their adult literacy and help foster within each family a love of reading and learning which nurtures the literacy development of children. The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, in First Teacher: A Family Literacy Handbook for Parents, Policy-makers, and Literacy Providers, (1989) provides the following description of family literacy programs:
These programs operate on the stated or implicit belief that it is important for the parent or primary care-giver to place a high value on the acquisition of literacy skills and to take an active role in the child's education in order for that child to do his or her best in school. Further, the more literate that parent or care-giver becomes, the more effective he or she will be in performing the necessary at-home and school-related tasks that support the child's educational development... (T)hese programs reflect the belief that the role of the parent in the educational development of the child is critical - that parents are a child's first and most influential teachers.
Head Start should play a significant role in helping its families break the cycle of intergenerational illiteracy because:
- Literacy development, which begins in early childhood, is a critical aspect of social competence;
- The adult literacy skills of Head Start parents significantly affect the self-sufficiency of their families;
- Local, State, and national attempts to promote family literacy need partners like Head Start to effectively reach low-income families with young children.
- To enable Head Start parents to develop and use literacy skills which enable them to become more active and effective participants in the community, in the workplace, in their child's education and development, and in their efforts to obtain economic and social self-sufficiency;
- To enhance children's literacy development by helping parents become more effective as their child's "first teachers".
Subsequent pages of this document provide the following:
- An overview of the problem of intergenerational illiteracy;
- A rationale for Head Start involvement in promoting family literacy;
- Suggestions for incorporating family literacy promotion into basic Head Start functions;
- Descriptions of existing Head Start family literacy efforts; and
- Information on resources which Head Start programs can use.
Intergenerational Literacy
Over the last decade, general awareness of the status of adult literacy in the United States has increased. Though few Americans are completely illiterate, many have literacy skills below the level needed to effectively participate in an increasingly complex society. This group, often described as "functionally illiterate", is estimated to include over 23 million adults.
Illiteracy is both a cause and symptom of a myriad of social and economic problems. Inability to read can profoundly limit opportunities. Un employment and poverty are often the consequences of these limitations. For a low-income parent of young children, adult educational needs often lose priority as the family struggles to meet basic survival needs. Helping low-income families with young children to address literacy needs will require a comprehensive and supportive approach.
The following are important dimensions of intergenerational literacy:
- Literacy skill levels which were adequate in a manufacturing and agricultural economy are insufficient today. American employers are becoming acutely aware of a widening "skills gap" between the literacy demands of today's jobs and the actual skills of current and incoming employees.
- The large number of students who leave school prior to high school graduation contributes to the national problem of functional illiteracy. This problem is most acute in urban, low-income areas and among Hispanic youths.
- There is a rapidly increasing number of adults in the United States for whom English is a second language. Their literacy skills may be limited due to low English language proficiency or, for some, limited education in their native countries. In order to meet their special needs, literacy programs must include basic English language instruction.
- The concept of functional illiteracy is most often discussed in the context of workplace demands. However, adults who are parents need literacy skills to meet the health, nutrition, safety, and educational needs of their children. A parent with low literacy skills may be unable to read or respond to printed notices from a child's school or be unable to follow the instructions on a child's medication.
- Many parents with low-literacy skills experienced such frustration and failure as children that as adults they avoid literacy-related activities. These parents often communicate their negative attitudes toward literacy and schooling to their children, and thus perpetuate an intergenerational cycle of illiteracy.
Head Start must address family literacy as part of its efforts to support parents as the first teachers of their children and promote the self-sufficiency of Head Start parents. Data from the 1987-88 Head Start Program Information Report (P.I.R.) indicate that 49% of the primary care-givers for Head Start children have attained less than a high school diploma or G.E.D. While we do not know the level of functional literacy skills which these parents possess, observations by Head Start programs addressing adult literacy suggest a wide range of needs; many parents have skills which are too low to permit immediate success in a G.E.D. training program (which most often requires at least sixth grade level reading skills). In addition, many parents who have attained a high school diploma may. still have significant literacy skill needs.
Five Reasons Why Head Start Must Address Family Literacy:
1. The values which young children bring to the activity of reading are established prior to their entry into elementary school, and parents are the most important influence upon these values.
2. The best predictor of a child's educational success is the parents' educational attainment.
3. Parents who have developed a sense of efficacy are best able to nurture their child's development of social competence.
4. Improving the quality of life for their child is a strong motivator for parents to accept the challenge of addressing their own literacy needs.
5. Functional literacy skills do not guarantee economic self- sufficiency or full participation in one's community; however, without these skills, such accomplishments are nearly impossible.
All Head Start children enjoy opportunities to share stories and books in the Head Start classroom, but this experience will not be enough. Too many Head Start children do not have the pleasure of listening to stories read or told by a family member; they may seldom see their parents use reading or writing skills to solve everyday problems. Often there are few or no reading materials for children or adults in their homes.
Head Start parents must personally demonstrate to their young children that they believe reading is valuable. They must model the everyday use of reading as a way to "find out about things" and writing as a way to "tell about things". Parents with the most basic levels of literacy skills can, with support and direction, play a very significant role in establishing their children's values about literacy. They can also help make their own dreams for their children's educational future become a reality.
Benefits to the Head Start Child and Family
"The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children." (Becoming a Nation of Readers, 1983).
Children's early school success in reading is significantly affected by their experiences listening to, and retelling, stories read or told to them by an adult. Learning to read is an active and, creative process; the rudimentary skills of reading are emerging in children long before they begin formal instruction in how to recognize or spell words. These emerging literacy skills include the young child's recognition of actions portrayed in pictures and the understanding that the story read aloud to them corresponds to words printed upon a page.
Young children's early experiences with oral stories and print materials nurture a child's effort and curiosity in acquiring that remarkable human skill of deriving and imparting meaning through the printed word. Elementary school reading instruction often presumes that entering students have had substantial early experiences in activities which reinforce their emergent literacy skills. Unfortunately, many Head Start children do not share the experience of many middle-class students; i.e., from 500 to 1,000 hours of hearing stories told or read to them before they begin for mal reading instruction in the first grade.
For many parents the desire to promote their child's literacy development can spur an interest in improving their own literacy. The potential of Head Start to serve as a catalyst for parents to address their adult learning needs should not be underestimated. When Head Start can enable a parent to identify his or her own literacy needs and sup port that parent's participation in adult education opportunities, the benefits extend to the children and will last well beyond the period of Head Start enrollment.
The Head Start Model and Family Literacy
Head Start and family literacy models share the belief that the parent is a child's first and most important teacher. Therefore, it is not surprising to learn how well many standard Head Start practices can be adapted to promote family literacy. Such Head Start practices as the family needs assessment and the community needs assessment processes, developmentally appropriate educational programming for children, parent involvement, parent training, and the utilization of volunteers are existing mechanisms for promoting family literacy.
The Head Start Family Literacy Initiative calls upon every Head Start grantee to recognize family literacy as a priority which is clearly reflected in the regular activities of their Head Start programs. For example, in conducting the family needs assessment, the observed and expressed needs of family members for literacy development should routinely be noted. Then support should be offered to the family in defining and addressing individual goals. The educational programming for classroom and home should reflect a commitment to promoting children's emerging literacy, and should actively involve parents. as models. The Head Start Family Literacy Initiative does not call for the creation of a distinct literacy component in the Head Start program; instead, it encourages improving the capacity of existing Head Start practices to promote family literacy.
The Nation Needs Head Start as a Partner for Family Literacy
In order to successfully address America' s literacy needs, community based programs like Head Start must play an active role in the solution. With its reputation for credibility in the communities it serves, Head Start can effectively recruit, support, and retain adult learners who may not be reached by existing literacy programs. The advantages of including Head Start in a community's efforts to promote literacy include:
- Head Start has a community identity as a family-focused program with operating principles of parent involvement and empowerment.
- Head Start has a capacity for sustained contact with parents through the child's regular program attendance and parent involvement activities.
- Head Start is committed to working with families, focusing upon their strengths and devising creative strategies to meet their needs.
- Head Start's holistic approach to child development enables parents to develop their roles as advocates, nurturers, and teachers of their children.
- Some parents do not recognize that they play a critical role in their child's literacy development; they need to discover how they can support this development.
- Some families do not have, or do not take advantage of, access to materials and, activities that promote family literacy.
- For some parents, their own low levels of literacy prevent or discourage them from sharing literacy-based activities with their children.
1. Increasing the Head Start families' access to materials, activities,
and services which are essential to family literacy development (e.g.,
acquiring children's books for the home, helping every family to get and
use a library card, and promoting family participation in a story hour
for young children at a neighborhood center);
2. Supporting parents in the role of being their child's first teacher
by providing the encouragement and specific direction to Head Start families
which will stimulate and sustain the child's interest and the child's potential
for future independent success in literacy activities; and
3. Assisting parents as adult learners to recognize and address
their own literacy needs by creating an environment which is positive,
supportive, and contains the promise of benefiting both them and their
children.
There are several basic activities which any Head Start program can
provide to foster family literacy. Other functions will require setting
priorities, considering the needs and resources of the community served.
Collaborations with existing literacy promoting programs (e.g., libraries,
adult basic education agencies, English as a Second Language and literacy
volunteer programs) are important. These programs have resources and skills
which Head Start should complement rather than duplicate.
First Steps In Promoting Family Literacy
Getting Started
It is important to develop a specific plan to promote family literacy. To begin the plan, take an inventory of the Head Start program by area of major activity. This a good way to examine the existing practices which foster family literacy development or could be modified to do so. A format for the inventory is presented on page 11. After conducting the inventory, review identified needs with staff and parents and agree upon priorities. Next, describe specific, reasonable, and measurable short-term objectives and assign a person to be responsible for each objective. Then, describe a strategy and the scope of effort needed to accomplish the objectives. Finally, determine what resources both within and outside Head Start can support the effort. Two categories of resources should be seriously considered: partnerships with existing community literacy programs and partnerships with volunteers. See Table 1 on page 10 for a discussion of the steps involved.
Community Partnerships to Address Family Literacy
Some of the most innovative and potentially effective strategies to build Head Start family literacy have resulted from collaborations with existing community organizations. Public and private organizations, from volunteer groups to private industry, are increasingly focusing upon family literacy development as a means of interrupting the intergenerational cycle of illiteracy. A Head Start program's family literacy activities should be shaped by the needs and resources of the community that it serves.
The Head Start program should not expect to act in isolation when addressing
the literacy needs of its families. Potential collaborators in literacy
efforts include libraries, businesses, civic organizations, and literacy
volunteer programs. Public education programs should also be approached.
These include: adult basic education, General Education Development (GED),
English as a Second Language (ESL), and the new Even Start demonstration
projects. Head Start has an important role to play in these efforts as
a comprehensive family-centered approach that is known and trusted in the
communities it serves. Head Start can help an existing literacy program
to "connect" with families which might otherwise be overlooked or ineffectively
served by existing approaches. Refer to Table 2 on page 14 for suggestions
about collaborating with local family literacy resources.
TABLE 1
1. TAKE INVENTORY
Take an inventory of existing projects and practices in your Head Start center. Which practices promote family literacy development? Which might complement a family literacy initiative underway in the community? What resources are available to further these efforts? (Use the Inventory provided as Page 11)
2. SET PRIORITIES
Review the needs of the surrounding community and Head Start parents and families. Include parents and staff in the discussion. Set priorities. Determine whether these needs can be addressed over the short term or will require long term projects.
3. SET OBJECTIVES/GOALS
After needs and resources are determined, define the goals and objectives of this initiative. What should be accomplished through this effort? What specific benefits will families derive from the project?
4. DEVELOP STRATEGIES
Design strategies to further establish goals and objectives. Decide how to incorporate the literacy initiative into every day program activities, in the classroom, home visits, family needs assessment, social services, etc. How can new literacy efforts become a long-lasting feature of the program? What community organizations offer literacy services the families need and how can Head Start help these services become more effective for Head Start families?
An Inventory of Head Start Program Practices Which Promote Family Literacy
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| Community Resource Directory | ||
| Early Childhood Curriculum | ||
| Family Needs Assessment | ||
| Home Visits | ||
| Parent Involvement | ||
| Staff Training | ||
| Volunteers | ||
| Policy Council |
- Review existing community family literacy programs to learn what services they offer, whom they serve, and how Head Start families could benefit from their program;
- Convene an advisory panel of representatives from local literacy programs to meet with Head Start staff and parents to help Head Start promote family literacy; and
- Send representatives from Head Start to join local advisory boards or committees that address literacy issues in the community. This will enable the Head Start program to be involved in the planning, delivery, and evaluation of literacy services to Head Start families.
Volunteers as Family Literacy Resources
Volunteers have always played an important role in Head Start programs and should play a key role in any literacy initiative. Volunteers can increase the impact of a literacy effort, serving as tutors, storytellers/readers, by collecting and distributing reading materials, and by offering encouragement and support to help program participants to meet their literacy goals.
In an address to the 1990 Head Start Volunteer and Community Partnership Institute, Ms. Billie Ann Myers, Volunteer Coordinator for the State of Arkansas, addressed the four essential features of a successful volunteer effort:
1. The commitment of the program's Board of Directors and the executive
staff.
2. One person with clear responsibility for administering the volunteer
program.
3. Volunteers must endorse the principles which guide the program;
this requires comprehensive orientation to the program's mission.
4. The volunteer program must be well planned, implemented, and
evaluated; volunteers must believe their donation of time is well spent.
The Volunteer Coordinator's Handbook, distributed to Head Start grantees by the Head Start Bureau, is an excellent guide on beginning a volunteer program. In addition, Head Start programs can contact existing literacy/library volunteer programs in their community to learn how the programs can work together to bring their knowledge, experience, and resources to bear on Head Start's literacy efforts. Section IV of Appendix A provides a selected list of associations, organizations and government offices which address literacy; these organizations can provide information about their local affiliates.
TABLE 2
OBJECTIVE: To identify resources, establish contacts and actively collaborate to promote family literacy in Head Start.
Following are possible local level resources for Head Start programs to utilize in planning and implementing family literacy promotion efforts in each of the three focus areas:
ACCESS FOR FAMILIES:
· Reading Is Fundamental (RIF)
· Public and School Libraries
· Private Sources of Books to Own
· Stimulation Resources (Storytellers, Readers, Performing Artists)
PARENTS AS TEACHERS:
· Family Literacy Projects (Even Start, Library, University,
Literacy Volunteers)
· Individuals and Organizations to Provide In-Service Education
and Materials/Activity Guides
· Agricultural Extension Programs
· Community Youth Organizations, e.g. Girl Scouts of America
· Library Parent-Child Projects
PARENTS AS ADULT LEARNERS:
· Adult Basic Education/G.E.D. Programs
· Literacy Volunteer Organizations
· Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) and Private Industry Council
(PlC) Programs
· Welfare Reform/J.O.B.S. Program
· Community Literacy Councils
· Community Colleges/Universities
· English as a Second Language (ESL) Programs
· Library Adult Literacy Programs
Designing Activities To Promote
After determining needs, resources, strategies and goals, the next appropriate step is to design and implement activities to meet stated objectives. This section offers specific suggestions to Head Start programs for promoting family literacy with activities in each of the three focus areas.
Family Literacy Focus Areas
1. Family Access
Objective: To increase the Head Start family's access to materials, activities, and services which can promote family literacy development.
2. Parents as Teachers
Objective: To support parents in their role as their child's first teacher. Providing direction and encouragement to Head Start families will stimulate and sustain a child's interest in literacy activities.
3. Parents as Adult Learners
Objective: To support parents as adult learners and enable them to recognize and address their own literacy needs. Creating an environment which is positive and supportive will convince parents that literacy benefits them and their children.
Increasing Access to Family Literacy Opportunities
The Head Start program should be involved at the very basic level of increasing Head Start families' access to the materials, activities, and services which are the foundation for family literacy development. Many low-income homes lack reading materials which parents can share with their children. This need cannot be overlooked by a family literacy program. The National Center for Family Literacy underlines the findings of multiple studies of children's school success: "Parents who have books in the home and read to their children have children who are good readers and good students."
Encourage Head Start parents to use the public library. Regular visits will help cultivate a familiarity and comfort with library facilities. The library offers numerous educational opportunities such as story hours, reading clubs, etc.
Parents must acquire, and share with their children, stimulating children's books. Head Start can introduce and encourage ongoing use of book-lending resources such as the public library and/or a Head Start collection. It is also important for families to acquire reading materials that they and their children can keep as their own. Consult with the local library to identify community resources for low-cost or donated reading materials.
One resource which several Head Start programs have utilized to obtain low-cost, high quality children's books is Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF). A national non-profit organization, RIF supports community projects that encourage children to want to read. RIF believes that children who like to read, will read.
Each RIF project is sponsored by a local agency and staffed by community volunteers. Using the network provided by the national RIF, local projects order-books from publishers at discount prices. They then give them away to young people at several "book distributions" throughout the year.
Presently there are Head Start-based RIF projects in 17 States. Many Head Start RIF projects report that RIF's name recognition improves community support for the fund-raising required for book purchases. (See Section IV of Appendix A to obtain information about enrolling in RIF).