Virtually all families want their children to learn to read and write, and to succeed in school, and are eager to provide any support necessary.
Family involvement in everyday language- and literacy-related activities has a significant impact on children\u27s language dvevelopment acquisition of early literacy skills. Early language and literacy activities at home contribute to differences when children enter school

DeFrain, John

Hanna, Janet S.

Hinrichs, Kayla M.

Mahar, Carla J.

English

UNL | Libraries

University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
Historical Materials from University of 
Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Extension 
2005 
NF05-637 The Power of Family Literacy 
Janet S. Hanna 
University of Nebraska - Lincoln, jhanna1@unl.edu 
Kayla M. Hinrichs 
University of Nebraska - Lincoln, khinrichs3@unl.edu 
Carla J. Mahar 
University of Nebraska - Lincoln, cmahar1@unl.edu 
John DeFrain 
University of Nebraska - Lincoln, jdefrain1@unl.edu 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/extensionhist 
 Part of the Agriculture Commons, and the Curriculum and Instruction Commons 
Hanna, Janet S.; Hinrichs, Kayla M.; Mahar, Carla J.; and DeFrain, John, "NF05-637 The Power of Family 
Literacy" (2005). Historical Materials from University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension. 1753. 
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/extensionhist/1753 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Extension at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - 
Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Historical Materials from University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension by an 
authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. 
NF637
The Power of Family Literacy
Adapted by Janet S. Hanna, Kayla Hinrichs and Carla Mahar, Extension Educators
John DeFrain, Family Life Specialist
Second in a series of nine fact sheets developed through a national research project — StoryQUEST — through the 
California Institute on Human Services, Sonoma State University.
StoryQUEST’s Vision
High-quality early relationships and experiences 
throughout their daily routines provide each infant and 
toddler with the tools and skills to build a strong foun-
dation for future school readiness. Families, caregivers 
and communities as a whole collaborate to enable all 
children to become highly competent in language and 
literacy.
Virtually all families want their children to learn to read 
and write, and to succeed in school, and are eager to provide 
any support necessary.
Family involvement in everyday language- and literacy-
related activities has a significant impact on children’s lan-
guage development and acquisition of early literacy skills. 
Early language and literacy activities at home contribute to 
differences when children enter school.
Parental attitudes and activities convey messages about 
schooling, work, the joy of learning and the value of educa-
tion. Children who see literacy as a family value and learn 
early on that reading and writing are pleasurable, important 
and meaningful are more successful in school.
Hart and Risley (1995) found that children who had fewer 
language experiences in their homes in the first years of life 
entered school behind their peers who had richer language 
experiences. This gap continued until age 9 when the study 
was concluded.
Family Activities That Prepare
Young Children for School
• Adults talking with children
• Adults reading books with children
• Adults reading books for their own enjoyment
• Families accessing community resources, including 
libraries and museums
• Adults and children using reading and writing in 
 everyday activities
Parental Involvement
Father involvement at home and school may be linked 
to higher literacy achievement of boys.
Factors outside the home that contribute to challenges 
children experience in school include lack of social, political 
and economic support for families in dealing with housing, 
health and other social problems.
Research shows that the more education the parent has, 
the better the child tends to do in school (Sticht & Armstrong, 
1994).
How Families View Literacy
Numerous issues affect how families view and deal with 
literacy. Many factors impact families’ willingness and abil-
ity to engage in literacy-related activities, such as reading to 
children or pursuing their own education.
Adults’ own experiences with school:
• their own reading ability
• their self-confidence
• daily economic struggles
Some families use literacy differently than it is used in 
the traditional school culture.
• storytelling or popular literacy activities (TV viewing, 
cartoons, video games) versus reading books, writing 
and using educational materials.
Some families may view literacy as “work” rather than 
an activity to engage in for personal enjoyment and pleasure. 
They may focus on mechanical skills (e.g., letter naming, 
decoding) rather than engaging in playful communication or 
meaningful interactions around print and oral language. As a 
result, they may think literacy activities are inappropriate for 
infants and toddlers.
???????
??????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????
Tips for Building a House of Literacy
for All Families
Establish Trust. “If you tell me that the way my Momma 
raised me was wrong, I’m probably not going to listen to you. 
If I learn to trust you and find other things you tell me to be 
useful, I might just think about what you have to say about 
raising children.” (Miller cited in Mikulecky, 1996).
Families and professionals should build collaborative 
partnerships based on explicit dialogue and collaboration that 
stress reciprocal understanding between them.
Collaborative Relationships
Families
• Share your thoughts, beliefs and practices about lan-
guage, literacy and learning honestly.
• Talk about the role that literacy plays in their daily 
lives.
• Remember that children with disabilities are children 
first.
• Think about how they could make a difference in a 
child’s success at school.
• Start by working just one new thing into what they 
already do each day.
• Identify mutual goals and specific practices to reach 
these goals in the home, in socialization and/or in child 
care.
Professionals
• Reflect on your own thoughts, beliefs and practices 
about literacy and learning.
• Listen to the family.
• Recognize your own thoughts, beliefs and practices, 
and respect the families’ views — even if you disagree 
with them.
• Acknowledge, honor and respect the family’s beliefs 
and practices.
• Honor the time it takes families to trust a new person 
in their lives.
• Build trust slowly and don’t demand a lot before ev-
eryone is ready.
• Talk about the role that literacy plays in their daily 
lives.
• Consider the unique issues faced by families of children 
with disabilities and find ways to address language and 
literacy activities in that context.
• Share information with families about exactly how 
they can make a difference in their child’s future school 
success.
• Make concrete suggestions that are compatible with 
what they already do.
• Identify mutual goals and specific practices to reach 
these goals in the home, in socialization and/or in child 
care.
StoryQUEST
The members for 2003-2004 StoryQUEST - CNCS team 
were:
Sue Obermiller Paula Thompson
Trish Gorecki Christy Hruza
Tammy Classen Deb Obermiller
Janet Hanna Kayla Hinrichs
Kay Larson Regina Stupka
Meagan Thompson Brenda Stupka
Learning Coach: Laura Kahl
References
StoryQUEST 2. Session 5C. The Power of Family Literacy. 
Handouts 1 and 2. 2003. California Institute of Human 
Services, Sonoma University.
Baker, L., Scher, D., and Mackler, K. (1997). Home and 
Family Influences on Motivation for Reading. Educational 
Psychologist, 32, 69-82.
Bryant, D., Peisner-Feinberg, E., and Miller-Johnson, S. 
Head Start parents’ roles in the educational lives of their 
children. (April 2000). Paper presented at the Annual 
Conference of the American Educational Research 
Association, New Orleans, LA.
Harry, B. (1996). Family literacy programs: Creating a fit with 
families of children with disabilities. Family Literacy: 
Directions in Research and Implications for Practice. 
(Retrieved from http:www.ed.gov/pubs/FamLit. February 
7, 2003)
Hart, B., and Risley, T. Meaningful Differences in the Everyday 
Experience of Young Children. Baltimore: Paul H. 
Brookes. 1995.
Henderson, A.T., and Berla, N. (Eds.) (1994). A new generation 
of evidence: The family is critical to student achievement. 
Washington DC National Committee for Citizens in 
Education.
Kalyanpur, M., and Harry, B. Culture in special education: 
Building reciprocal family-professional relationships. 
Baltimore: Paul L. Brookes. 1999.
Mikulecky, L. (1996). Family literacy: Parent and child 
interactions. Family Literacy: Directions in Research and 
Implications for Practice. (Retrieved February 7, 2003 
from http://www/ed/.gov/pubs/FamLit)
National Center for Family Literacy. (2002). Head Start 
Family Literacy project. (Retrieved June 5, 2003 from 
http://www.famlit.org/headstart)
National Literacy Trust. (2001). Parental involvement and 
literacy achievement: The research evidence and the way 
forward. London, England: National Literacy Trust.
Nord, C.W., Lennon, J., Lieu, B., and Chandler, K. National 
Center for Educational statistic, November 1999.
Index: Family Life
Relationships
Issued May 2005
Extension is a Division of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln cooperating with the Counties
and the United States Department of Agriculture.
University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension educational programs abide with the nondiscrimination policies of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln
and the United States Department of Agriculture.
© 2005, The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska on behalf of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension.  All rights reserved.
Padak, N., and Radinski, T. Family literacy: What is it? 
(Occasional Paper No. 3). Kent, OH: Kent State University, 
1994.
Paratore, J., Melzi, G., and Krol-Sinclair, B. What should we 
expect of family literacy? Experiences of Latino children 
whose parents participate in an intergenerational literacy 
project. Neward, DE: International Reading Association, 
1999.
Snow, C., and Tabors, P. (1996). Intergenerational transfer 
of literacy. Family Literacy: Directions in Research and 
Implications for Practice. (Retrieved February 7, 2003 
from www.ed.gov/pubs/FamLit)
Sticht, T.G., and Armstrong, W.B. (1994). Adult Literacy in 
the United States, A compendium of quantitative data 
and interpretive comments. Washington DC: National 
Institute for Literacy.
Strickland, D. (1996). Meeting the needs of families in family 
literacy programs. Family Literacy: Directions in Research 
and Implications for Practice. (Retrieved February 7, 2003 
from www.ed.gov/pubs/FamLit)
U.S. Code Citation: 42USC9801 et seq. ACF Regulations: 
45CFR1301 et seq. Head Start Act Sec 637, 1998.
U.S. Department of Human Services Head Start Family 
Literacy Services Training, 2003.
U.S. Department of Human Services, Head Start Program 
Performance Standards, 1997.
UNL Extension publications are available online 
at http://extension.unl.edu/publications.


NF05-637 The Power of Family Literacy

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Historical Materials from University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Extension 2005 NF05-637 The Power of Family Literacy Janet S. Hanna University of Nebraska - Lincoln, jhanna1@unl.edu Kayla M. Hinrichs University of Nebraska - Lincoln, khinrichs3@unl.edu Carla J. Mahar University of Nebraska - Lincoln, cmahar1@unl.edu John DeFrain University of Nebraska - Lincoln, jdefrain1@unl.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/extensionhist  Part of the Agriculture Commons, and the Curriculum and Instruction Commons Hanna, Janet S.; Hinrichs, Kayla M.; Mahar, Carla J.; and DeFrain, John, "NF05-637 The Power of Family Literacy" (2005). Historical Materials from University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension. 1753. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/extensionhist/1753 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Extension at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Historical Materials from University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. NF637The Power of Family LiteracyAdapted by Janet S. Hanna, Kayla Hinrichs and Carla Mahar, Extension EducatorsJohn DeFrain, Family Life SpecialistSecond in a series of nine fact sheets developed through a national research project — StoryQUEST — through the California Institute on Human Services, Sonoma State University.StoryQUEST’s VisionHigh-quality early relationships and experiences throughout their daily routines provide each infant and toddler with the tools and skills to build a strong foun-dation for future school readiness. Families, caregivers and communities as a whole collaborate to enable all children to become highly competent in language and literacy.Virtually all families want their children to learn to read and write, and to succeed in school, and are eager to provide any support necessary.Family involvement in everyday language- and literacy-related activities has a significant impact on children’s lan-guage development and acquisition of early literacy skills. Early language and literacy activities at home contribute to differences when children enter school.Parental attitudes and activities convey messages about schooling, work, the joy of learning and the value of educa-tion. Children who see literacy as a family value and learn early on that reading and writing are pleasurable, important and meaningful are more successful in school.Hart and Risley (1995) found that children who had fewer language experiences in their homes in the first years of life entered school behind their peers who had richer language experiences. This gap continued until age 9 when the study was concluded.Family Activities That PrepareYoung Children for School• Adults talking with children• Adults reading books with children• Adults reading books for their own enjoyment• Families accessing community resources, including libraries and museums• Adults and children using reading and writing in  everyday activitiesParental InvolvementFather involvement at home and school may be linked to higher literacy achievement of boys.Factors outside the home that contribute to challenges children experience in school include lack of social, political and economic support for families in dealing with housing, health and other social problems.Research shows that the more education the parent has, the better the child tends to do in school (Sticht & Armstrong, 1994).How Families View LiteracyNumerous issues affect how families view and deal with literacy. Many factors impact families’ willingness and abil-ity to engage in literacy-related activities, such as reading to children or pursuing their own education.Adults’ own experiences with school:• their own reading ability• their self-confidence• daily economic strugglesSome families use literacy differently than it is used in the traditional school culture.• storytelling or popular literacy activities (TV viewing, cartoons, video games) versus reading books, writing and using educational materials.Some families may view literacy as “work” rather than an activity to engage in for personal enjoyment and pleasure. They may focus on mechanical skills (e.g., letter naming, decoding) rather than engaging in playful communication or meaningful interactions around print and oral language. As a result, they may think literacy activities are inappropriate for infants and toddlers..EB&ACTR?IFPEBA ?V KFSBOPFQV LC B?O>PH>¨FK@LIK UQBKPFLK 	KPQFQRQB LC DOF@RIQROB >KA >QRO>I BPLRO@BPTips for Building a House of Literacyfor All FamiliesEstablish Trust. “If you tell me that the way my Momma raised me was wrong, I’m probably not going to listen to you. If I learn to trust you and find other things you tell me to be useful, I might just think about what you have to say about raising children.” (Miller cited in Mikulecky, 1996).Families and professionals should build collaborative partnerships based on explicit dialogue and collaboration that stress reciprocal understanding between them.Collaborative RelationshipsFamilies• Share your thoughts, beliefs and practices about lan-guage, literacy and learning honestly.• Talk about the role that literacy plays in their daily lives.• Remember that children with disabilities are children first.• Think about how they could make a difference in a child’s success at school.• Start by working just one new thing into what they already do each day.• Identify mutual goals and specific practices to reach these goals in the home, in socialization and/or in child care.Professionals• Reflect on your own thoughts, beliefs and practices about literacy and learning.• Listen to the family.• Recognize your own thoughts, beliefs and practices, and respect the families’ views — even if you disagree with them.• Acknowledge, honor and respect the family’s beliefs and practices.• Honor the time it takes families to trust a new person in their lives.• Build trust slowly and don’t demand a lot before ev-eryone is ready.• Talk about the role that literacy plays in their daily lives.• Consider the unique issues faced by families of children with disabilities and find ways to address language and literacy activities in that context.• Share information with families about exactly how they can make a difference in their child’s future school success.• Make concrete suggestions that are compatible with what they already do.• Identify mutual goals and specific practices to reach these goals in the home, in socialization and/or in child care.StoryQUESTThe members for 2003-2004 StoryQUEST - CNCS team were:Sue Obermiller Paula ThompsonTrish Gorecki Christy HruzaTammy Classen Deb ObermillerJanet Hanna Kayla HinrichsKay Larson Regina StupkaMeagan Thompson Brenda StupkaLearning Coach: Laura KahlReferencesStoryQUEST 2. Session 5C. The Power of Family Literacy. Handouts 1 and 2. 2003. California Institute of Human Services, Sonoma University.Baker, L., Scher, D., and Mackler, K. (1997). Home and Family Influences on Motivation for Reading. Educational Psychologist, 32, 69-82.Bryant, D., Peisner-Feinberg, E., and Miller-Johnson, S. Head Start parents’ roles in the educational lives of their children. (April 2000). Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.Harry, B. (1996). Family literacy programs: Creating a fit with families of children with disabilities. Family Literacy: Directions in Research and Implications for Practice. (Retrieved from http:www.ed.gov/pubs/FamLit. February 7, 2003)Hart, B., and Risley, T. Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young Children. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes. 1995.Henderson, A.T., and Berla, N. (Eds.) (1994). A new generation of evidence: The family is critical to student achievement. Washington DC National Committee for Citizens in Education.Kalyanpur, M., and Harry, B. Culture in special education: Building reciprocal family-professional relationships. Baltimore: Paul L. Brookes. 1999.Mikulecky, L. (1996). Family literacy: Parent and child interactions. Family Literacy: Directions in Research and Implications for Practice. (Retrieved February 7, 2003 from http://www/ed/.gov/pubs/FamLit)National Center for Family Literacy. (2002). Head Start Family Literacy project. (Retrieved June 5, 2003 from http://www.famlit.org/headstart)National Literacy Trust. (2001). Parental involvement and literacy achievement: The research evidence and the way forward. London, England: National Literacy Trust.Nord, C.W., Lennon, J., Lieu, B., and Chandler, K. National Center for Educational statistic, November 1999.Index: Family LifeRelationshipsIssued May 2005Extension is a Division of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln cooperating with the Countiesand the United States Department of Agriculture.University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension educational programs abide with the nondiscrimination policies of the University of Nebraska–Lincolnand the United States Department of Agriculture.© 2005, The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska on behalf of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension.  All rights reserved.Padak, N., and Radinski, T. Family literacy: What is it? (Occasional Paper No. 3). Kent, OH: Kent State University, 1994.Paratore, J., Melzi, G., and Krol-Sinclair, B. What should we expect of family literacy? Experiences of Latino children whose parents participate in an intergenerational literacy project. Neward, DE: International Reading Association, 1999.Snow, C., and Tabors, P. (1996). Intergenerational transfer of literacy. Family Literacy: Directions in Research and Implications for Practice. (Retrieved February 7, 2003 from www.ed.gov/pubs/FamLit)Sticht, T.G., and Armstrong, W.B. (1994). Adult Literacy in the United States, A compendium of quantitative data and interpretive comments. Washington DC: National Institute for Literacy.Strickland, D. (1996). Meeting the needs of families in family literacy programs. Family Literacy: Directions in Research and Implications for Practice. (Retrieved February 7, 2003 from www.ed.gov/pubs/FamLit)U.S. Code Citation: 42USC9801 et seq. ACF Regulations: 45CFR1301 et seq. Head Start Act Sec 637, 1998.U.S. Department of Human Services Head Start Family Literacy Services Training, 2003.U.S. Department of Human Services, Head Start Program Performance Standards, 1997.UNL Extension publications are available online at http://extension.unl.edu/publications.

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