Tanya has an 11 month old.
Tanya’s parents expected her to graduate from high school. Her parents
are both from Portugal. Her mother completed Grade 3 and her father finished
Grade 5. Tanya remembered her parents modeling writing. Her mother was “constantly
writing letters. I also saw her writing cheques. Dad wrote cheques and did bills.”
Her parents watched the news every night. They also modeled reading. Her mother
read romance novels and her father read incoming mail. She did not remember
either of them singing or rhyming. Her father “tried to help with homework
but it didn’t always work. They were taught differently; different procedures
for math.”
Tanya said her parents did not read to her often. Tanya’s
first language was Portuguese. Because her parents did not speak English well,
she learned English from her siblings when she was about three years old. Her
family went to church functions on Sunday but they did not read or sing. Instead,
they had processions and get-togethers. She remembered going to the Muttart
Conservatory with her parents once a year but did not recall visiting the Art
Gallery, TELUS World of Science or museum. She did not have a library card when
she was a child.
Tanya has a high school diploma and works as a data entry clerk. She completed on the job training and has taken one Excel course for professional development. She watches television for approximately two hours a day (mostly sitcoms) and uses the internet for half an hour a week, primarily to do online banking.
Tanya expects her daughter to get a university degree. Tanya and her husband
do not model writing, except for doing bills. Tanya’s daughter sees her
parents watching television. Tanya reads magazines and newspapers two to three
times a week. She sings and rhymes with her daughter everyday. She “tried
reading to her but she wasn’t interested and I haven’t tried in
a while.”
Tanya’s daughter has a lot of books.
Tanya said, “I’m trying to encourage her to be a reader and to
have fun with music because she’s interested in it now.”
Her daughter
does not watch television or videos or use the internet. They have visited the
TELUS World of Science once.