New series on early
literacy and family involvement
Long
before a child walks through the door of a Kindergarten classroom, she
is a master at making her wishes known, taking her cues from others,
and figuring out what is going on around her. This highly sophisticated
and oh-so-human task of creating meaning is at the heart of early literacy
and language. And it begins with newborns who are comforted when they
cry, infants whose babbles are responded to in kind, and toddlers who
are encouraged to explore and interact with their surroundings.
Families
and communities that support families are the seed beds wherein a child's
growing sense of his own possibilities and place in the world take root.
Reading, writing, speaking, and listening are not only schoolwork, job
skills, and the foundation for citizenship, they are homework of the
most fundamental kind. Speaking, listening, reading and writing create
a circle of meaning in which children learn they are full participants
in life: They belong in the world and can help shape and make sense
of it; they are connected to others and are capable of making themselves
understood.
This
report looks at the role of families in fostering early literacy and
language in children, especially in the earliest years – from birth
to five years old. It asks, "What does research and community wisdom
tell us are the best ways of going about this?" We know a great
deal already – and are learning more every day – about the
strategies, conditions, and experiences that help children develop into
literate, thoughtful adults.
Our
biggest challenge is acting on this knowledge. We know what we need
to do. Now we must be more purposeful, more strategic, and bolder than
ever before in implementing this knowledge. Thus, this report is a call
to action for families raising children, for communities supporting
families, for family educators, child care providers, and all the other
professionals who care about children, and for policy makers and those
who shape and influence public policy.
The
University of Minnesota's Children, Youth & Family Consortium (CYFC)
takes seriously its charge to draw upon the best available research
to inform our individual and collective work on behalf of children,
youth, and families. Since 1991, this commitment to public teaching
and learning has led us to convene working groups, foster interdisciplinary
research, sponsor conferences and seminars, prepare briefing materials,
and present public reports such as this one.
The
Consortium works to ensure that families and communities have easy access
to the latest research and, equally important, that the rich knowledge
and experience of practitioners and citizens finds its way into academic
teaching and research. In 1996 the Danforth Foundation gave a substantial
boost to the University of Minnesota's efforts to assist the community
with addressing the pressing needs of children and families.
The
number one issue was quickly determined to be improving the learning
outcomes for children in St. Paul and Minneapolis neighborhoods. Parents
and teachers agreed that reading, writing, speaking, and listening are
the building blocks for all other kinds of learning, and where there
are large populations of children who lag behind in these critical areas,
there is pressing work to be done.
Through
a three-year grant provided by the Danforth Foundation, the Consortium
brought together schools, community organizations, and a multitude of
resources from the University to focus on children's learning at home
and school. Much of the material featured in this report flows from
that remarkable Danforth project, which shared its name, Seeds of Promise,
with this series of reports. We also learned during this initiative
about the importance of family involvement in students' learning; we
have published a Seeds of Promise report on this topic as well.
Order
information appears on the masthead. We want to thank the researchers,
program directors, community groups, and families who contributed to
this report and welcomed us into their offices and classrooms.
We
also acknowledge and honor the important work that goes on every day
in families and schools, in community centers and child-care settings,
and everywhere that children are nurtured and cared for.
