Family Literacy

The Value of Family Literacy Programs

Children acquire their basic cognitive and linguistic skills within the context of family-based interactions and activities. Consequently, the impact of literacy in the home and parental involvement in literacy and school-related activities is significant.

According to the 1996 National Assessment of Educational Progress, in homes where reading materials are plentiful, children have higher average reading proficiencies. The same study, involving 27,400 public and non-public school students, showed that children from homes where there are frequent discussions about school and reading had higher average proficiencies. A 1996 paper commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education ("Family Literacy: Parent and Child Interaction." L. Mikulecky, Indiana University) demonstrated additional supports for children's reading success:

  • Parental reading to and with children
  • Parental conceptions of the roles of education and literacy
  • Literacy modeling and support in the home environment
Parents want what is best for their children, including providing a supportive learning environment. Moreover, parents want to take advantage of opportunities for their own self- improvement and learning. Family literacy programs help them to achieve those goals and result in increased literacy skills, life skills, job skills, parenting skills, and self-esteem for parents as well as educational gains for children. Morrow, Tracey and Maxwell, in a survey of several dozen family literacy programs found that results range from "positive attitude change to follow-up reports of children's success in school to increased parental participation in school-related events." Other documented outcomes have included increased library visits, more reading materials in the home, increased parental reading to children, and more frequent literacy related activity by children. (L. Mikulecky, 1996.)

Beginning in the late 1980s and gaining momentum through the 1990s, literacy in a family context has become an increasingly important area of concentration for LVA. Now more than one-half of LVA affiliates support a family literacy component.


Back to Family Literacy