QUALITY STORYTENTS

A resource for family, early childhood and community literacy workers


Finally, there are some who are looking anew at family literacy as a tool for the application of local and broader political action; not far from Paulo Friere's vision of literacy instruction as emancipation (Auerbach, 1992; Shannon, 2001; Whitty, Nason and Hunt, nd).

Categorizing Family Literacy Programs and Projects

The spectrum of different family literacy interventions can be categorized in many different ways. One helpful grouping is provided by Skage (1995):

Intergenerational Projects
These projects have specific program components that involve sustained parent-child literacy interaction.

Focus on Parent or Primary Caregiver
These projects provide parents with ways to support home literacy and to foster reading with children.

Parental Involvement
The focus is on children’s literacy development, with adults enlisted to provide program support. Examples are Family Resource Programs, some school-based programs and home-based tutoring programs.

Family Literacy Activities for the General Public
Members of the general public, both adult and child, are invited to participate in literacy activities for enjoyment, with little or no direct literacy instruction provided.