Descriptions

The quantity and nature of parent-child verbal interactions, reading to and with children, and the availability and use of reading materials at home are factors that influence literacy development. Since many parents of first-grade children are not taking advantage of opportunities at home to engage their children in appropriate activities to further oral language, reading and writing development, a 6-session parent reading workshop was conducted at two elementary school sites. In this workshop format a way to share information with the parents on critical research findings on issues related to emergent readers (developmental stages, how the brain works, elements of balanced literacy instruction) was developed. Appropriate strategies for teaching and scaffolding learning in each of the areas of balanced literacy were modeled. Parents had opportunities to "make and take " materials and activities to use with their children at home--a literacy toolkit. The hope was that a partnership with the first-grad