Course ePortfolio
Family Literacy
This course focuses on involving parents of young children in the development of early literacy skills from local, national, and international perspectives. When parents begin to speak early with their children, read to and with them, and create a literacy rich environment, children develop better literacy skills. These literacy skills translate into school readiness and academic success later in life. Listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills all begin early in life and can be facilitated by literacy experiences in the home. The mastery of these skills depends upon the functions of literacy and the interrelatedness between culture and literacy. Family literacy programs play a large role into the development of literacy skills for certain cultural groups. A collaborative exploration of family literacy in other countries will provide a multi- cultural awareness of how to assist at-risk children, especially from immigrant families, in establishing early literacy skills necessary to enter formal schooling.
Prerequisites
None
Pedagogical Approach & Learning Outcomes
Pedagogical Approach
This course is designed to be facilitated either fully online or through a blended modality. It can be easily converted to a face to face course by making resources available to students during class time.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Explain the need and reasons for literacy education for children and parents.
- Describe effective family literacy programs.
- Explain effective strategies for parents/guardians to foster their children literacy skills in the home.
- Describe early literacy and math development within the home.
- Examine and explain cultural issues especially those for Hispanic, African American, American Indian, Alaskan Native, and migrant populations compared to other countries.
- Understand the commonalities and differences of family literacy across cultures and families in the world.
- Demonstrate an awareness of how the interrelatedness of culture and structure impact family literacy programs at local, global, and international levels.
- Develop a multi- perspective analysis of diverse family literacy programs that are practiced in local, national, and international arenas.
- Engage with others in a small group to explore problems associated with a specific local or international family literacy program and create a solution to at least one of the problems discovered.
Assessment & Other Information
Assessment
This course is designed to encourage active learner engagemnet and participation. Therefore, each module will conclude with at least one assignment asking to students to reflect and apply acquired knowlege. For a list of assignments per module, click here.
Other Information
None
Course Resources
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Four Components of Family Literacy (External link)Module 1: Four Components of Family Literacy and Introductions
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What is family literacy? (External link)Module 2: Overview of Family Literacy
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Early Literacy (External link)Module 3 - Week 3: Children's Early Literacy and Language Development
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Literacy at Home (External link)Module 3 - Week 3: Literacy at Home
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Literacy Development (External link)Module 3: Literacy Development
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Activities to Encourage Speech and Language Development (External link)Module 3 - Week 4: Strategies to Promote Language and Literacy Skills
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Family Literacy & Home Visit Programs (External link)Module 3 - Week 5: Family Literacy & Home Visit Programs
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Results from the National Early Literacy Panel & Their Implications for Family Literacy Programs (External link)Module 3 - Week 5: Results from the National Early Literacy Panel & Their Implications for Family Literacy Programs
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Reading Matters (External link)Module 3 - Week 5: Reading Matters
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Fathers’ involvement in young children’s literacy development: implications for family literacy programmes (External link)Module 4 - Week 6: Parent and Adult Learning and Engagement
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Module 4 - Week 6: Parental Involvement
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The Daddy Factor: How Fathers Support Development (External link)Module 4 - Week 6: Parental Involvement
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The Jones Family's Culture of Literacy (External link)Module 5 - Week 7: Culture and Diversity
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How to inspire every child to be a lifelong reader (External link)Module 5 - Week 7: Culture and Diversity
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Striving to achieve Helping Native American Students Succeed (External link)Module 5 - Week 8: Meeting the Needs of American Indians and Alaska Native Families
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“Sacred Little Ones” infuses Native language and culture into early childhood education (External link)Module 5 - Week 8: Meeting the Needs of American Indians and Alaska Native Families
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Reaching Out To Hispanic Parents to Improve Family Reading (External link)Module 5 - Week 9: Family Literacy Programs for Latino Families in the US
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Parental involvement in language and literacy acquisition (External link)Module 5 - Week 10: Linguistic, Literacy, and Socioemotional Interventions for Young Children in Migrant and Seasonal... More
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The migrant education program (External link)Module 5 - Week 10: Linguistic, Literacy, and Socioemotional Interventions for Young Children in Migrant and Seasonal... More
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Family Literacy Tool Kit - Saskatchewan Literacy Network Literacy and Learning for Life (External link)Module 6 - Week 11: Global Efforts in Family Literacy
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Mapping the Fields of Family Literacy in Canada (External link)Module 6 - Week 11: Global Efforts in Family Literacy
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FRP Canada: How family resource centres can make a difference (External link)Module 6 - Week 11: Global Efforts in Family Literacy
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Family literacy programs in the Netherlands and in Germany: Policies, current programs, and evaluation studies (External link)Module 6 - Week 12: Global Efforts in Family Literacy
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En Camino (External link)Module 5 - Week 9: Comprehensive educational toolkit for Spanish speaking families
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The Manukau Family Literacy Project, New Zealand (External link)Module 6 - Week 13: Global Efforts in Family Literacy
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Why are New Zealand children struggling to read? (External link)Module 6 - Week 13: Global Efforts in Family Literacy
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Family Literacy Project, South Africa (External link)Module 6 - Week 14: Global Efforts in Family Literacy
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Reshaping Literacy in a High Poverty Early Childhood Classroom: One Teacher’s Action Research Project (External link)Module 6 - Week 14: Global Efforts in Family Literacy
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What is Action Research? (External link)Module 6 - Week 14: Global Efforts in Family Literacy