----

##  Parent Support of Early Literacy Development. ERIC Digest.                   

This Digest is intended to help parents support young children's                literacy learning. It begins with definitions of literacy, then                 follows with suggestions for parent involvement in children's early             literacy development. Additional resources for supporting young                 literacy learners are included. DEFINITIONS OF LITERACYOver               the years, scholars from different disciplines have struggled to                define the concept of literacy, but little consensual agreement has             been achieved (Soares, 1992). The definition of literacy is often               subject to historical, social, economic, political, and other                   forces. For example, in the Middle Ages, literacy was generally                 associated with the ability to speak, read, and write Latin, and                only members of a few elite groups had access to formal education or            to the Latin texts in which it was presented. By the 16th century,              the invention and advancement of printing technology in Europe, and             the growing use of languages other than Latin, resulted in an                   explosion in literacy levels, extending even to people of                       traditionally lower social classes, such as peasants and                        merchants (Heath, 1996). Literacy was no longer the possession of a             few selected groups, but had become a means by which a broad                    spectrum of people could gain power and status. 
In 1951, UNESCO               defined literacy as the ability of a person "who can with                       understanding both read and write a short, simple statement on his              every day life", and it revised this definition in 1978 as one's                ability to "engage in all...activities in which literacy is required            for effective functioning in his group and community and also for               enabling him to continue to use reading, writing, and calculation               for his own and community's development." The change in UNESCO's                definition reflects a change from a narrow set of behaviors in                  reading and writing to a broader sense of community functions                   including mathematics. In this Digest, literacy is viewed from a                socio-psycholinguistic perspective, one in which literacy is more               than the ability to read and write, but extends also to the use of              oral and written language as well as other sign systems, such as                mathematics and art, to make sense of the world and communicate with            others (Berghoff, 1998; Harste, Woodward, & Burke, 1986; Heath,                 1984; Halliday, 1975). SUGGESTIONS FOR PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN                  CHILDREN'S EARLY

LITERACY DEVELOPMENTBased upon the                      perspective of literacy provided above, as well as upon                         recommendations from the National Reading Panel (2000) and from Put             Reading First: Helping Your Child Learn to Read (2001) we offer the             following guidelines to help parents create a home environment that             will support the literacy development of their young children: 
1.             Encourage children to use literacy in meaningful and purposeful                 ways, such as helping make shopping lists, drawing and writing                  thank-you notes, clipping coupons for family use, and reading road              maps to plan a trip together. 
2. Visit libraries and bookstores               frequently and encourage children to check out materials, such as               toys, tapes, CD Roms, and books, from libraries. Participate in                 activities held by libraries and bookstores, such as story times,               writing contests, and summer reading programs. 
3. Set aside time              for reading alone or together as a family every day. Read a wide                variety of materials, such as books, magazines, signs, and labels,              with and to children. 
4. Keep reading and writing materials, such             as books, magazines, newspaper, paper, markers, crayons, scissors,              glues, and stickers, accessible to children so that they can make               use of these tools in a variety of language activities. (High                   quality reading and writing materials are not necessarily expensive.            You can find them at school and library book fairs, yard and garage             sales, online bookstores or auctions, book-stores' on-sale sections,            used or second-hand bookstores, and charity sales [i.e., Salvation              Army and Goodwill]). 
5. Read books with rhymes and play language              games, such as tongue twisters and puzzles, with your                           children. 
6.  Practice the alphabet by pointing out letters                   wherever you see them and by reading alphabet books. 
7. Point out             the letter-sound relationships your child is learning on labels,                boxes, magazines and signs. 
8. Keep a notebook, in which you, as              the parent, write down stories which your children tell, so that the            children see the connection between oral language and text. 
9. Be             a reader and writer, yourself. Children observe and learn from                  people around them. 
10. Be patient and listen as your child reads             books from school. Let your child know you are proud of his or her              reading. RESOURCES FOR PARENTS TO SUPPORT YOUNG CHILDREN'S                    LITERACY LEARNING1. Associations, organizations, and ERIC                   Clearinghouses 
American Library Association-For Kids, Parents, and            Public 1301 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, # 403, Washington, DC.                   20004 
Tel: (202) 628-8410 or (800)                                            545-2433 
http://www.ala.org/publicpage/index.html 
* 
ERIC                  Clearinghouse on Elementary & Early Childhood Education 
Children's            Research Center, 51 Gerty Drive, Champaign, IL 61820 
Tel: (217)               333-1386 or (800) 583-4135 
http://ericeece.org 
* 
ERIC                     Clearinghouse on Reading, English, & Communication 
2805 East 10th             Street, #140, Bloomington, IN 47408 
Tel: (812) 855-5847; or (800)             759-4723 
http://eric.indiana.edu 
* 
National Center for Family             Literacy 
325 West Main Street, Suite 200 
Louisville KY                      40202-4251 
Tel: (877)-FAM-LIT1 
http://www.famlit.org/index.html             
* 
Parents' Choice Foundation 
1130 East Cold Spring Lane, Suite            211, Baltimore, MA 21239 
Tel: (410)                                           532-0727 
http://www.parents-choice.org/ 
* 
Reading is                      Fundamental, Inc. 
1825 Connecticut Avenue, N.W, Suite 400,                    Washington, DC 20009 
Tel: (202) 287-3220 or (877)                             RIF-READ 
http://www.rif.org/ 
2. Book resources 
Emerging                   Literacy: Young children learn to read and write edited by rothy S.             Strickland, Lesley M. Morrow, published by International Reading                Assoc., 1989. ISBN 0-87207-351-3 
I Already Know How to Read: A                Child's View of Literacy by Prisca Martens, published by Heinemann,             1996. ISBN 0-435-07226-9 
Learning to Read and Write by Susan                  Neuman, Carol Copple, and Sue Bredekamp, published by National                  Association for the Education of Young Children, 2000. ISBN                     0-93598-987-0 
Much More Than the ABCs: The Early Stages of Reading            and Writing by Judith Schickedanz, published by The National                    Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998. ISBN                     0-93598-990-0 
Parent to Parent: Our Children, Their Literacy by               Gerald R. Oglan & Averil Elcombe, published by National Council of              Teachers of English, 2001. ISBN 0-8141-3496-3 
The Read-aloud                  Handbook by Jim Trelease (5th edition), published by Penguin Books,             2001. ISBN 0-14100-294-8 
3. Periodicals 
Parent News by National             Parent Information Network http://www.npin.org/pnews.html 
Parents             and Children Together Online                                                    http://eric.indiana.edu/www/indexfr.html 
Parents' Choice E-mail               newspaper http://www.parents-choice.org/member_signup.cfm 
Parent              Talk Magazine                                                                   http://eric.indiana.edu/www/famres/ptalk/index.shtml 
4.                       Brochures 
Born to Read: How to Raise a Reader by American Library             Association http://www.ala.org/alsc/raise_a_reader.html 
Get Ready             to Read! Tips for Parents of Young Children by International Reading            Association, 1998. http://www.reading.org/pdf/1017.pdf 
Helping                Your Child Become A Reader by U.S. Department of Education, 2000.               http://165.224.220.62/pubs/parents/Reader/index.html 
Library                  Safari: Tips for Parents of Young Readers and Explorers by                      International Reading Association, 1999.                                        http://www.reading.org/pdf/1032.pdf 
Make the Reading-Writing                  Connection: Tips for Parents of Young Learners by International                 Reading Association, 1999.                                                      http://www.reading.org/pdf/1038.pdf 
Putting Reading First by U.S.             Department of Education, 2001                                                   http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/partnershipforreading/publications/PFRbroch            ure.pdf 
See the World on the Internet: Tips for Parents of Young              Readers-and "Surfers" by International Reading Association, 1998.               http://www.reading.org/pdf/1026.pdf REFERENCESBerghoff,                   B. (1998). Multiple sign systems and reading. The Reading Teacher,              51 (6), 520-524. 
Halliday, M. A. K. (1975). Learning how to mean:             Exploration in the development of language. London:                             Elsevier. 
Harris, T. L. & Hodges, R. E. (Eds.). (1995). The                   literacy dictionary: The vocabulary of reading and writing. Newark,             DE: International Reading Association. 
Harste, J. C., Woodward, V.            A. & Burke, C. L. (1986).Language stories and literacy lessons.                 Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 
Heath, S. B. (1984). Ways with words:              Language, life and work in communities and classrooms. Cambridge,               MA: Cambridge University Press. 
Heath, S. B. (1996). "The sense of            being literate: Historical and cross-cultural feature." In R. Barr,             M. L. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, & P. D. Pearson (Eds.). Handbook of                  reading research, v2. p.3-25. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum                      Associates, Publishers. 
National Institute of Child Health and                Human Development (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel.                 Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the                  Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its implications for              Reading Instruction [Online]. Available:                                        http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrp/smallbook.htm 
Put                   Reading First: Helping Your Child Learn to Read, (2001). The                    Partnership for Reading: National Institute for Literacy; National              Institute of Child Health and Human Development; and U.S. Department            of Education. 
Short, K. G., Harste, J. C. & Burke, C. L. (1996).              Creating classrooms for authors and inquirers. Portsmouth, NH:                  Heinemann. 
Soares, M. B. (1992). Literacy assessment and its                  implication for statistical measurement. Paper prepared for Division            of Statistics, UNESCO, Paris. 
----- 
Digest #164 is EDO-CS-01-05             and was published in November 2001 by the ERIC Clearinghouse on                 Reading, English & Communication, 2805 E 10th St., Bloomington, IN              47408-2698, Telephone (812) 855-5847 or (800) 759-4723. ERIC Digests            are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced. Additional               copies may be ordered by contacting the ERIC Document Reproduction              Service at (800) 443-3742. 
This project is funded at least in part            with Federal funds from the U S Department of Education under                   contract number ED-99-CO-0028. The content of this publication does             not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U S Department             of Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial products,              or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.                   **Title:** Parent Support of Early Literacy Development. ERIC Digest.                   **Note:** ERIC Digest D164.                                                            **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication, Indiana              University, 2805 E. 10th Street, Suite 140, Bloomington, IN                     47408-2698. Tel: 800-759-4723 (Toll Free). For full text:                       http://eric.indiana.edu.                                                     **Descriptors:** Beginning Reading, Beginning Writing, Definitions,  Early Childhood             Education, Information Sources,  Literacy,  Parent Participation,               Parents as Teachers, Reading Instruction                                     **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests, National Reading Panel                                         
###
[Return to ERIC Digest Search Page]