The last section we will learn about today is the importance of sharing information with families within the partnership that is built.

Ways to Share Information

To be collaborative partners with families, educators must share information with them about their child’s development of oral and written language, and about how they can help them develop these skills. Information-sharing must occur not only after holding background language conversations, but also on an ongoing basis. It must be tailored to meet individual families’ needs. Co-create a communication system with families. Recognize and respect their time and only commit to what you’re sure you will be able to follow through on.

Here are a few ideas on how information can be shared back and forth between school and home about language development:

• Class newsletters or a weekly bulletin
• Conferences
• Home visits
• Phone, e-mail communication
• Daily notes home (Formatted, “Today, ___ did ___”)
• Weekly in-person check-in conversation
• Communication notebook
• Parent literacy meetings
• Literacy bags

What are some other methods you’ve seen, tried, or are thinking about?

Watch this video of an educator sharing information about a child’s progress (1:11) with English language development. As you watch, think about how the educator is demonstrating a collaborative partnership with this family.

In what ways did the educator demonstrate that she had a collaborative partnership with this family?

Supporting literacy learning at home

Support families to continue using their home language, and value their role as their child’s teacher of language and literacy skills. Make it explicit to families that you encourage their usage of home language and that you value their role as teachers, too. This may also look like collaborating by having educators offer resources for families to bring home and families bringing resources to school (not merely physical objects–ideas and stories, too, for example) for classroom use.

Learn from families about the child’s interests and abilities and incorporate them so the child feels welcome and engaged in new learning experiences. Value the interests of children and engage their curiosity with what they enjoy learning and doing.

Educators can suggest the following activities for families to do in their home language, which will help multilingual learners transfer that knowledge into their classroom English language learning.

• Start where families are and ask what they currently do (e.g., sing in the car, read at bedtime, chat on the way to the park). Do they tell stories from their childhood, sing songs they sang as kids, spend time with relatives who speak other languages, use the library for books in their languages, share time with people from their religious organization? Help families plan when and where they can do home language and literacy activities based on their current routines.
• Expand the notion of literacy as more than just books–storytelling, conversations, etc. are all ways to develop literacy skills.
• Explain how everyone has a role in literacy, not just parents. Siblings, grandparents and extended family members are just as important in developing literacy (and may have more time). Hold a family meeting with everyone who can participate, at their convenience, to discuss how the whole family can be involved in the children’s language and literacy learning.

Using information from families

When a family gives you information about their child it is just as valid as information you receive from screenings and assessments, perhaps even more so. This is especially true for children who are multilingual learners because very few instruments have been created for specific languages and cultures.

Language understanding and use at home and at school may be different, and both points of view provide a complete picture of a child’s communication abilities.

Effective communication occurs with many different people, in many different settings. If educators know how much English a child has been exposed to and how much better they understand concepts and other information in the home language, they can make each child feel valued and supported. Educators can:

• Compare with other findings: How does the information you receive help you compile a fuller picture of this specific family?
• Add to portfolio: Collect information that can provide support to additional educators that join the program, and/or as a source to refer to throughout your time with families.
• Create familiar situations for children: Use the information gathered to provide and create a curriculum and instruction that is welcoming and familiar for children.
• Provide new opportunities: The information gathered can be a resource for creating new ways to engage children.
• Plan effective communication with families and children: Recognizing the time commitments and various responsibilities of families and yourself can help to create a plan of communication that is effective for you and the families.

Communicating the importance of early literacy

Again, families are educators’ partners in developing early literacy skills, especially with multilingual learners. Educators help families realize their important role in reading and talking with their children in their home language for future language and literacy development in subsequent language learning.

For instance, the quantity of book reading a child experiences is related to vocabulary and listening comprehension. These skills are later related to reading achievement in Grade 3.

Teaching children to read and write words is related to reading skills at the end of Grade 1. Word reading at the end of grade 1 predicts reading comprehension at the end of Grade 3.

Children develop their attitudes about literacy and reading in the very early years, at home and in care settings, through experiences and relationships with important people in their lives (Morrow, 2000).

Adults and peers nurture oral language development through meaningful conversations, singing, dramatic play, and many opportunities to tell stories and listen and respond to stories told and read by adults.

Educators can help children develop their language and literacy skills by partnering with families! Encourage families to use their home language to read, sing, talk, and play with their children.

References

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Head Start, Head Start Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center. (2018, January 3). Strategies for supporting all dual language learners. [PDF]

Morrow, L. M. (2000). Early literacy development: Research and practice. In Psychological perspectives on early childhood education. (Ed. Golbeck, S.). (253-279). Erlbaum

Novick, R. (1998). Learning to Read and Write: A Place to Start. Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory Child and Family Program.

Notari-Syverson, A., O’Connor, R., Vadasy, P. (2007). Ladders to Literacy, 2^nd Edition. Brookes Publishing.

Sénéchal, M. & LeFevre, J. (2002). Parental involvement in the development of children’s reading skill: A five-year longitudinal study. Child Development, 73 (2), 445-460.