Heather has a 14 year old.
Heather’s mother completed Grade 9 and her father finished Grade 10.
They expected her to get a high school diploma. Heather said, “My parents
were old school. They worked most of the time.”
Heather’s mother
modeled writing by doing bills and taxes but she did not recall seeing her father
writing. Her mother read books on politics and both her parents read the newspaper
every day. Heather recalled seeing her mother watching television every night.
Her father would watch news and sports. Both her parents loved music and both
modeled singing and rhyming. Heather remembered a lot of singing around her
house. Heather did remember whether her parents helped her with homework but
she “probably asked mom if I needed help.”
She did not remember
her parents reading to her or going on social excursions but she did go to the
library often.
Heather is a high school graduate and works as a Material Control Assistant. She learned her job mostly through on the job training. She took a course on Excel through her employer but did not finish. She watches television for five to six hours a day, mostly watching drama but also reality television and documentaries. She talks to her son, who lives in Vancouver, on MSN for one hour a day. She usually uses the internet to email and chat.
Heather expects her son to graduate from college or university. She said she
has “probably taught my kids more about literacy than my parents taught
me.”
She read to her son every day or night. She modeled writing by doing
bills and taxes, journaling and writing letters. She is “always reading
novels, magazines and the newspaper every day.”
Her son saw her watching
television every night.
Heather considers her family very musical. They do a lot of singing and rhyming
and her son is “very passionate about the guitar.”
Heather “helped
with homework when he needed help.”
The family has a lot of books at home.
Her son “often brought home books from the school library and he has a
public library card. He would go once every couple of weeks. We used to go to
Chapters and read.”
Heather’s son watches television and video for two hours a day, mostly music because he is so passionate about the guitar. He is on the internet for four to five hours a day, mostly to chat and email. They go on social excursions like the museum and TELUS World of Science once every couple of months.