Graduate Research Papers

Availability

Open Access Graduate Research Paper

Keywords

Home and school; Language arts; Parent-teacher relationships; Parents' and teachers' associations;

Abstract

Literacy events of some sort occur most everyday in every home. Most schools have not considered some children's homes to be a source of rich literacy experiences, yet literacy practices are embedded within the daily routines of almost every family (McCarthey, 1997). The opportunities provided for children's participation in literacy practices in the home environment are closely related to parents' own literacy use at home. This article presents case studies of four families that each had a child involved in America Reads, a federally funded after-school program. The case studies are the result of an ongoing investigation of families' perceptions of routine activities done at home that include literacy. The goals of the project were to establish what events parents classified as literacy events in the homes, what literacy events were valued in the homes, parents' opinions of "school-like" literacy activities, and how the parents viewed the contribution that the home environment made to their children's literacy development. The purpose of this article is to share the research results to help teachers gain a better understanding of the importance of learning about their students' "funds of knowledge." This information can help adapt instruction based on what children already know and do in their homes. With this knowledge, teachers can help parents capitalize on what they are already doing at home to help their children with reading and writing.

Year of Submission

2002

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Education

Department

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

First Advisor

Penny L. Beed

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this graduate research paper and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Date Original

2002

Object Description

1 PDF file (25 pages)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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