Extend Literacy Activities

Children's language and literacy are shaped by their experiences with significant others in their lives. As they interact with family members they learn how language and literacy are valued and used in meaningful ways for their situation. The parents play a primary role in socializing their children to literate ways. The parents hold specific beliefs about how best to educate their children and extend literacy activities. A summary of the home literacy activities that were reported or observed is contained in Table 4 on the following page. All of the parents state that they have some reading time together with their children, check their children's homework, and talk to their children about their day at school. Some participate in play activities, such as sociodramatic play, play games together or do crafts. With the exception of Michelle, all of the parents listen to their children read. Some of the parents tell stories, use everyday routines like preparing meals or going shopping, or model literate behaviours in the activities in which they engage at home. I discuss these activities in more detail in the next four sections.

Read and talk together.

It is well known that much learning occurs in informal ways outside of the classroom setting. Further, speech and language are important precursors of literacy and the foundations for successful reading and writing. Therefore, both reading and talking are important for extending literacy activities at home. Natalie and Jill make it a habit to talk to their sons when they arrive home from school. Natalie states "I always ask them how their day was…And how they do on their tests…or "what do you have for homework?"