Research Question 3: What conditions and factors within
the family contribute to family literacy practices and the
enculturation of children into these practices?

Children acquire literacy through a complex process of enculturation which will now be discussed. Gender, family composition and child rearing practices, educational background of family members, health issues, and identity all have a role in contributing to family literacy practices.

Gender

Parents have a role in guiding both their sons and daughters into valued discourses of literacy (Heath 1983). As has been discussed, schoolwork is a gendered task with mothers clearly taking the lead. Boys often do not have the same model as girls in school with mainly female teachers in the early years and many are raised in single mother homes. As Greer (2001) has pointed out, it is important for all boys to have models of their gender so they will learn to appropriate the valued discourses in their daily lives. Girls, however, may find it easier to develop a set of literacy practices and discursive resources with so many more female literate models around them.

Family Composition and Child Rearing Practices

Many of those living in low–income circumstances live with only one female parent and the mothers suffer a lack of time. Roscigno and Ainsworth–Darnell (1999) point out that the number of siblings also affects family functioning. They emphasize that each additional member reduces the amount of time available from the parent with the greatest impact felt on children in single–parent homes.