In contrast, Morawski and Brunhuber (1993) found that remedial readers in their study tended to have more negative attitudes about reading. Their earliest recollections of learning to read were not until they were in school. For this group, the teacher was the focus, rather than a family member. Parker (1989) also found that parents in educationally and economically impoverished homes do not remember literacy experiences in their past, nor do they promote literacy habits in their own families. One may surmise that these parents' energies are diverted to day to day coping, leaving them less available psychologically to help their children.

Social networks.

Researchers emphasize the importance of capitalizing on interactions and the role of social networks in facilitating literacy skills (Auerbach, 1989; Fingeret, 1991; Gee, 1989; Pellegrini, Galda, Shockley, & Stahl, 1995). Grolnick et al (1997) point out the role of other people in providing social support for learning. Through social networks, people connect with others and the broader the network, the less socially isolated they become.

Horsman (1990), in her study of mothers attending literacy upgrading programs in rural Nova Scotia, found that many of the women are considered isolated through their illiteracy. She notes that as they improve their literacy skills, they begin to find their voice and express their ideas more freely. These women are often silenced through the political process of enforcement of a single literacy spread across the curriculum in school, without regard for ways of supporting and engaging them as learners. Although this study contributes to an understanding of social networks, it underscores the complexity of comprehending the factors associated with family environments. There is a need to think of increasingly diverse literate practices which are socially embedded, not just uniform technical skills that may be promoted through schooling (Barton, 1994; Heath, 1983; Street, 1995).