III. Family Literacy Rationale

A. Why is Family Literacy Important?

The rationale behind family literacy programming is simple and straightforward. A child's literacy development begins at birth, and is shaped by his or her experiences in the home environment. By supporting parents/caregivers of young children in their role as their children's first teachers, we can have a positive impact on the child's emerging literacy skills and attitudes toward learning. This positive impact has implications not only for the child's future success in school but for their entire lifetime. (Nickse 1989, Morrow 1989, Heath 1983, Taylor and Dorsey-Gaines 1988)

Early intervention for the purpose of Impacting children's literacy skills is not the only rationale for family literacy, however. These programs may also improve parents' literacy levels, promote parental involvement in their children's education, and encourage positive home-school relationships (Padak et al 5). Perhaps as important as skill development and taking a more active role in education, family literacy has important implications for relationships within the family:

The goal of a family literacy program is to enhance the lives of parents and children through the joy of reading, and not incidentally. to also improve the literacy skills, attitudes, values and behaviors of both. Evidence from adult basic education. early childhood education, cognitive science, emergent literacy and family systems theory tells of the Importance of adults in children's early literacy development. Sharing books in families, when appropriately undertaken. sets a pattern for talking together about things and ideas. and adds to the pleasure of each other's company. Through shared activities, the social uses of literacy are incorporated along with orientations to concepts about books and print materials, and the cognitive tasks of asking and answering questions which are so Important to the children's school success.... (Quezada and Nickse 7)

The value of family literacy goes far beyond reading and writing. At a time when greater and greater emphasis is being placed on collaboration and "one-window" service delivery, family literacy programs can be one component of the growing movement to support and strengthen the family and the broader community.

B. Statistics

In order to understand the value of family literacy, it's helpful to look at data relating to the relationship between parents'/caregivers' reading, writing, and numeracy skills and the literacy achievements of their children.

Statistics Canada defines literacy as "the information processing skills necessary to use the printed material commonly encountered at work, at home, and in the community." The Statistics Canada Survey of Literacy Skills Used in Daily Activities (1989) assessed reading and numeracy skills of adult Canadians (excluding residents of the Yukon and Northwest Territories, people living on Indian reserves, Canadian Armed Forces members, and prison inmates) according to four levels of ability.