Districts Success Stories of Development for Title I and Title III Programs Latino Family Literacy

Dr. Cheryl Wolfel, Director of Second Language Programs, Community Consolidated School District 15 – “They (Latino parents) wanted to learn how to help support their children in literacy. They wanted to know how to support their children in becoming better readers. They wanted to know how to motivate their children to read more.”

“What we know is that many of our Latino parents have never had access to a literacy program designed specifically for the Latino family. So what we’re trying to do is encourage them to help their children make the most of these opportunities by stressing the importance of reading books and reflecting upon them and discussing them together, as a family.”

The Latino Family Literacy Project™ is designed to establish family reading routines for Spanish- and English-speaking parents and their children. The Project introduces the teachers to a language acquisition method and a step-by-step literacy instruction process. It involves family reading, vocabulary development, and English-language development for Latino parents and their children.

Each of our age specific programs engages the parents in reading with their children, reflects the experiences of Latino families, and is centered around universal themes. All materials, books and curricula used are bilingual and in a simple format. This program can be used to teach English language
and Spanish language skills and has multilevel English language lessons to include new vocabulary, verb conjugation, grammar and structure, conversation and practice opportunities.

Each program has a built-in evaluation process to measure the success of what the parents learned in class and includes at home skill-based activities for parents and children that support the state standards for each specific age group.

The Latino Family Literacy Project™ is a reading project designed to build a regular reading routine and develop English language skills. During the series of classes, parents are taught strategies designed to develop the child’s literacy skills. These strategies fall into three basic categories: what to do “before reading,” what to do “during reading,” and what to do “after reading.”

During class, parents read a children’s book and practice the reading strategies. Then, they take the book home and put the strategies into practice as they read with their children. All the books are bilingual so that the parent reads the Spanish page and the child reads English page. The parents then share their reading experience as a class. As a final project, the parents create a family album and present it to the class during their last session.

Partnership School Award Winner 2009

From the start, the Action Team for Partnerships (ATP) at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School faced a significant challenge. It wanted to encourage families of English Language Learning students—who make up about a quarter of the student population—to participate more frequently in school activities at school and at home. The ATP instituted a number of practices to reach out to these parents, even as it worked to welcome all families in the school. One activity, The Latino Family Literacy Project™, offers literacy classes for Spanish- and English- speaking parents, encourages a family reading routine, and works to improve students’ English and Spanish literacy skills.

The district’s Department of State and Federal Programs provided funding for training and materials for the project. The school’s family liaison—also a member of the school’s ATP— guided the practice and established a curriculum with lessons from the Project teacher’s manual and some of her own unique lessons. The school principal designated a room for a Family Center for classes and activities for parents and for storing materials. An ATP member provided translations at the class sessions. Teachers and other documents assessed this program noting more parents volunteering and taking classes on campus. In a targeted evaluation, the ATP found that the children of parents who participated in the Literacy Project performed consistently better over two years on the California English Language Development Test.

As part of the First Lady’s Family Literacy Initiative for Texas grant, five Krum families recently participated in The Latino Family Literacy Project™ at the Krum Early Education Center. During the ten week class, families had the opportunity to study the latest bilingual books and learn tips on how to read at home with their children.

The main goal of the course was to establish a family reading routine. Kindergarten teacher Denise Burns introduced a new book each week and parents took the book home to read to their children. When class resumed the next week, the families discussed how their at-home reading went.

Each participant in the class made a family album and had the opportunity to think and write about their goals for their children. The parents discovered how special their children and families were and how important it is to maintain traditions in their home.

In a post-program questionnaire, the families were asked what they enjoyed most about the class. Ruth Vega commented, “I learned how to teach my kids and tell them about the books. I learned how to gain more patience with them when reading and loved being with Mrs. Burns. She helped me a lot.”.