West Virginia\u27s Wetlands

Wetlands, transitional areas between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface or the land is covered by shallow water, covered an estimated 221 million acres of the conterminous 48 states in colonial days. Over 53 percent of those wetlands have since been lost to development. Wetlands have a long history of being drained or filled due to the expansion of the human population and the need for agricultural land as well as the negative connotations associated with wetlands such as mosquitoes. West Virginia is estimated to have 102,000 acres of wetlands, which is less than 1% of the total area. This estimate is 24 percent less than the 134,000 acres present in the late 1700s. Because of their rareness, wetland conservation is of great importance in the Mountain State

Community languages, the arts and transformative pedagogy

Consistent with the goal to pass on heritage to the next generation, teachers of community languages always build a strong cultural focus into their teaching. This often includes an arts dimension, such as work around festivals and traditional tales. This article, based on qualitative research in four London schools in 2009-10, explores different ways of incorporating an arts focus into community language teaching and the importance such work has for the children’s learning and confidence

How Parents Perceptions of Literacy Acquisition Relate To Their Children\u27s Emerging Literacy Knowledge

There is increasing recognition that literacy learning is a sociocultural phenomenon and that the ways in which the learning is mediated, the meanings which are ascribed to literacy, and the literacy activities in which members of a cultural group engage are determined by the beliefs and values held by the participants (Clay, 1993). For example, in her work with three different cultural groups in the southeastern United States, Heath (1983) documented qualitative differences between the early literacy experiences of working class children and their middle class counterparts. Tracking the children\u27s literacy development in school, she found that the middle class children whose early literacy experiences approximated the experiences which they subsequently encountered in school were successful; working class children whose preschool literacy experiences were not congruent with those at school experienced difficulty and failure and consequently dropped out of school

Listening to Parents\u27 Voices: Cross Cultural Perceptions of Learning to Read and to Write

Traditionally, educators have been generous in dispensing advice to parents about how they can help their children learn to read and write when they enter school (e.g.,Mergentime, 1963; Vukelich, 1984). However, researchers in emergent literacy (Clay, 1966) have found that many young children enter school already possessing considerable literacy knowledge. Consequently, there is a burgeoning interest in working with parents to understand the important roles they play in their school aged children\u27s literacy development

Representing and Promoting Family Literacy on the World Wide Web: A Critical Analysis

The purpose of this study was to examine critically how family literacy is promoted and represented through the images and written texts on Web sites developed by providers of family literacy programs. Naturalistic research over the last 20 years or so demonstrates that the family is a rich site for supporting children’s literacy development across socioeconomic and cultural contexts. This research suggests that families engage children in a wide array of literacy activities in their daily experience. Furthermore, many significant others in addition to parents play important roles in children’s literacy development. In this study we examined a representative sample of family literacy Web sites from across Canada. Findings suggest that literacy tends to be narrowly defined; responsibility for children’s literacy is usually ascribed to mothers; and troubling assumptions about families as being deficient still persist.Cette étude avait comme objectif d’étudier de façon critique la promotion et la représentation de la littératie familiale par les images et les textes écrits dans les sites Web qu’ont développés les fournisseurs de programmes d’alphabétisation familiale. La recherche naturaliste des vingt dernières années démontre que la famille constitue un milieu propice pour le développement de la littératie enfantine pour tous les contextes socioéconomiques et culturels. Ces résultats permettent de conclure que les familles font participer leurs enfants à toute une gamme d’activités littéraires au quotidien. De plus, plusieurs autres personnes clés jouent un rôle important dans l’alphabétisation des enfants. Lors de cette étude, nous nous sommes penchés sur un échantillon représentatif de sites Web canadiens portant sur la littératie familiale. Nous avons constaté que l’on a tendance à accorder une définition étroite à l’alphabétisation, à assigner à la mère la responsabilité de l’alphabétisation des enfants, et à entretenir des hypothèses troublantes selon lesquelles la performance des familles est insatisfaisante

“A GREAT PROGRAM... FOR ME AS A GRAMMA”: CAREGIVERS EVALUATE A FAMILY LITERACY INITIATIVE

In this article, we report a study in which we asked 137 parents and caregivers to evaluate a year‐long family literacy program in which they participated. Parents valued the insights they gained about children’s learning in general and literacy development in particular. They reported that they learned from each other as well as from the program facilitators; valued especially the structure of the program wherein they spent time working with children in classrooms; felt more included in the school community; and enhanced their self‐esteem and their ability to advocate for their families. Key words: families, literacy, school, family literacy, Parents As Literacy Supporters (PALS) Les auteurs présentent les résultats d’une recherche durant laquelle ils ont demandé à 137 parents et ou tuteurs d’évaluer un programme de littératie familiale auquel ils avaient participé durant un an. Les parents se sont dits heureux d’avoir pu ainsi mieux comprendre comment leurs enfants apprennent en général et en particulier comment leur littératie se développe. Ils ont signalé qu’ils ont appris de leur enfant et vice versa ainsi que des facilitateurs. Ils ont aimé la structure du programme qui leur a permis de travailler avec les enfants en classe. Ils se sentent ainsi davantage impliqués dans l’école et l’expérience leur a permis d’avoir plus confiance en eux‐ mêmes et en leur aptitude à se faire les avocats de leur famille. Mots clés : familles, littératie, école, littératie familiale, Parents As Literacy Supporters (PALS)

“A GREAT PROGRAM... FOR ME AS A GRAMMA”: CAREGIVERS EVALUATE A FAMILY LITERACY INITIATIVE

In this article, we report a study in which we asked 137 parents and caregivers to evaluate a year‐long family literacy program in which they participated. Parents valued the insights they gained about children’s learning in general and literacy development in particular. They reported that they learned from each other as well as from the program facilitators; valued especially the structure of the program wherein they spent time working with children in classrooms; felt more included in the school community; and enhanced their self‐esteem and their ability to advocate for their families. Key words: families, literacy, school, family literacy, Parents As Literacy Supporters (PALS) Les auteurs présentent les résultats d’une recherche durant laquelle ils ont demandé à 137 parents et ou tuteurs d’évaluer un programme de littératie familiale auquel ils avaient participé durant un an. Les parents se sont dits heureux d’avoir pu ainsi mieux comprendre comment leurs enfants apprennent en général et en particulier comment leur littératie se développe. Ils ont signalé qu’ils ont appris de leur enfant et vice versa ainsi que des facilitateurs. Ils ont aimé la structure du programme qui leur a permis de travailler avec les enfants en classe. Ils se sentent ainsi davantage impliqués dans l’école et l’expérience leur a permis d’avoir plus confiance en eux‐ mêmes et en leur aptitude à se faire les avocats de leur famille. Mots clés : familles, littératie, école, littératie familiale, Parents As Literacy Supporters (PALS)

Parents and Preschool Children Interacting with Storybooks: Children’s Early Literacy Achievement

This research reports on one area of a larger study in Western Canada examining the literacy activities of families from culturally diverse backgrounds. The research focused on parents’ interactions with preschool children in storybook sharing and children’s emergent reading development as measured by the Test of Early Reading Ability-2 (TERA-2). The sample consisted of 35 parents and children. Parents’ and children’s interactions in storybook sharing were videotaped and coded using a modified scale by Shapiro, Anderson, and Anderson (1997). Relationships were found between parents’ and children’s interactions in storybook reading and children’s early literacy achievement

Fathers\u27 and Mothers\u27 Book Selection Preferences for Their Four Year Old Children Abstract

Twelve fathers and 12 mothers of four year olds were presented with 14 children\u27s books representing various genres and were asked to select the five books they would read to their children in the coming week and to give reasons for their selections. They were then asked to identify those books they would not select and to provide reasons. There were some differences between mothers\u27/fathers\u27 book selection and some differences between selecting for sons/daughters. Similar differences were noted in terms of those books which parents would not select