Table 13

Cairney and Ruge's (1998) Classification of Literacy Practices and Home Literacy Events
Literacy Practices Sample home Literacy Events
Literacy for establishing or maintaining relationships - reading and writing letters
- making and writing birthday cards
- reading bedtime stories
- playing school
- writing/reading notes to/from school
Literacy for accessing or displaying information - doing school projects
- reading/discussing newspaper article
- reading TV guide
- reading maps, timetables, calendars
- filling in forms
- using computers
- reading catalogues and junk mail
Literacy for pleasure and/or self-expression - drawing and labeling pictures
- reading books, magazines and comics
- doing crossword or word search puzzles
- keeping a diary
Literacy for skills development - completing homework