Life circumstances, educational attainment and literacy achievement are undeniably interrelated and mutually dependent. Becoming better informed about non-mainstream home literacy events and practices will help educators to better understand the child's learning needs as they are enculturated into literacy practices. One cannot overlook the effect of power relations on learning. Knowledge of how this plays out in the classroom will help educators to teach all students more effectively.

In the following section I look at the process of children's enculturation into literacy practices. I discuss three key factors in this process for children growing up in low-income circumstances.

Children's Enculturation into Literacy Practices

Being enculturated into literacy practices is a dynamic process of construction and reconstruction through the daily activities of parents and children in the home, as well as through the social dynamics occurring in institutions such as schools. The key role of mothers in this process is well-recognized due to the gendered nature of their involvement in child care and schooling. In the final section of this chapter, I look at how families living in low-income circumstances enculturate their children into literacy practices. I begin by discussing factors related to growing up in poverty followed by findings on learning to be impoverished and then schooling for poverty. Table 12 at the end of this section offers a summary of the process of children's enculturation.

Growing Up in Poverty

Many of the children in this study come from families who grew up in similarly impoverished life circumstances; some even lived in the same neighbourhood. As pointed out, the low-income parents in this study, have a variety of practical skills that might serve as tools for improving their lives and their children's education.