While reading this chapter it kind of made me sad that family literacy only got one chapter of this book. I think family literacy is such an important aspect of literacy that a lot of parents look over! Last semester, I was in an immersive course where we paired with Minnetrista to create family literacy days that provided critical thinking. I think sometimes with family literacy, you can incorporate it into activities without even realizing it! An example would be having the student and their parent read a book together and discuss connections they both could make to the story! Things as simple as that can be considered family literacy. I think something that educators and parents get confused is that family literacy should be an experience that the student does not get in school. It needs to be an activity that the child wouldn't do in a traditional classroom. This is where teachers don't know what to do! How can you plan family literacy activities for your children if it isn't done in the classroom at school? Does anyone have any good ideas for a family literacy activity that promotes critical thinking and also gives the parent and the student an authentic experience?
Looking back to my house, I realized how great my mom was at creating family literacy events! She was a kindergarten teacher before she stayed home to raise her kids, so I now realize all of the little things she did to promote literacy in our home. We had checklists for everything! Grocery lists, cleaning day, errands to run, night-time routines. You can literally name something off and she would have us help her create a list for it! We also rode our bikes to the library a lot during the summer. She even drove us all the way to Ohio for a living history museum just for fun! All of these activities were so much fun! I think that's where parents struggle with their children is that they think of literacy and automatically think "Oh well that's just going to be them reading before bed." You can make literacy fun! I loved all of the examples and charts that this book gives. I think this book could be useful for parents, not just teachers because of the resources it provides! Did anyone else have an experience like mine growing up? If so, did you feel like your mom or dad intentionally did those things or was it just a coincidence? Looking back, I think my mom intentionally planned these activities without telling us to show us literacy in our every day lives.
My experience was a little different. I grew up on a farm very much so in the country. Our local school had a library but it was not open to the public so this was not an option when we were young. My mom did really well trying to get me interested in reading, i just really struggle with it. One thing i remember doing with my mom was cooking. Mom would let me try my best to read through the cook book directions and descriptions. Now that i look back at it, i wonder if she had me help so i would work on my reading. I truly believe she meant to do this. The thing is i enjoyed cooking with my mom, so trying to read the cook book was not like a chore to me. I think that this is something you should always remember. Practicing reading does not have to be in the traditional way. Find something your child enjoys and interweave literacy into the activity. Before you know it your child is practicing literacy everyday and they don't even realize it.
ReplyDeleteLooking back I am also able to point out several family literacy events that my parents created! My mom ran a day-care from our home so she was constantly incorporating literacy into our everyday lives. We took several “field trips” to different museums, libraries, etc. and at that age we loved it. She was able to incorporate literacy and learning without us really realizing it. I believe this is what many children need; they are not going to want to do “schoolwork” at home so you have to make it fun. Like you said family literacy should be an activity different from those that the child already participates in at school. And by incorporating the child’s interest you are able to get them engaged and learning without them even knowing it.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you brought up the idea about the museum. I think that is such a great idea. Thinking back I really cannot remember many experiences in which my mom and dad gave us. We read a lot together and read a lot of environmental print. We would go to the zoo and places like that, however, I cannot remember exactly. I think you can make almost anything you would like to have a focus on literacy. So much of reading instruction is getting the children to realize that reading is involved in everything and can be fun. As a teacher, I am going to try and incorporate events such as family game nights, so families are given ideas in which they can provide meaningful literacy at home to their children.
ReplyDeleteMy experience was similar to yours growing up but I think that my parents intentionally did these thing but not for the purpose of literacy. Both of my parents worked full time growing up but they would always take me museums, exotic vacations, or to the zoo. My parents wanted me and my sister to experience the world so we would grow up more cultured and get outside the “Zionsville bubble” as everyone calls it. Since my parents worked full time even during the summer I attended a different summer camp, day camp or overnight, every week during the summer. I learned a lot of new and interesting things at these camps. I think that my parents did not know that they were teaching me literacy but they most definitely were. When we would go to the museums I would try to read the writing on the walls because I want the to know more information about the topic or when we went on vacation I would see new environment print that I had never seen before. I think that showing parents that the simple things like, pointing out environmental print or spending one afternoon at a museum, can be extremely beneficial. Practicing reading does not have to follow a traditional path especially in today’s untraditional society.
ReplyDeleteGreat way to connect this to your childhood! As a child, my parents were always working and I spent most of the time at my grandparents house. I feel as though I had exposure to literacy, but trips and events were not specifically planned for me. I don't necessarily agree with you that family literacy needs to be an experience students does not get in school. What did you mean that family literacy should be activities that students would not get in a traditional classroom? To me, family literacy is reading and doing activities related to literacy, such as reading a book together, writing shopping lists, drawing pictures and discussing them. I think it is important for teachers to send home ideas of activities they are working on in school and invite the student's families (not necessarily only parents) to learn with the child while doing these activities together at home.
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