I looked for literacy events in activities of daily living such as the manner in which families manage their finances and paid their bills, how they understand schedules to use the public transit system, how they use literacy in following a recipe or use patterns and directions for home repairs. I also examined how they used literacy with respect to entertainment. I wanted to make sense of how they understood the television guide, did crossword puzzles, found items in catalogues and magazines or engaged in crafts. Finally, I aimed to look at literacy events in religion in their lives, such as bible reading and understanding notices about church activities.

Family Literacy

Like literacy, a plethora of definitions of family literacy has been put forth (Shively, 2001). For this research, the meaning adopted involves the intergenerational sharing of literate experiences that provides family members with an environment that supports and expands the range of literacy activities in the home (Parks, 1995). Family literacy is a learned process which encourages parents to incorporate activities in their own cultural context (Parks, 1995) and extend the range of learning in the family (Hudson River Center for Program Development, 2001). As outlined by the International Reading Association (1994), family literacy occurs naturally during daily routines and includes all of the ways that family members use literacy both at home and in their community. Barton (1997) lists some examples as writing a note to the teacher, sharing a bedtime story, making a shopping list and following a recipe. He adds that adults often serve as the literacy role models in the home, and may read and write for a variety of purposes or have literacy-related discussions, all as part of family literacy.