Family Support for Early Literacy and Numeracy

Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/family-support-for-early-literacy-and-numeracy/5019118/

Introduction

Early childhood educators often make assumptions about the nature of families’ understandings and what they do at home to support their young children’s literacy and numeracy development and learning. Sometimes educator’s have a limited understanding of children’s ­every day experiences at home or in their community and the potential for these to support early literacy and ­numeracy learning and development.

As a member of a research team that examined the nature of family beliefs and practices concerned with early literacy and numeracy in Melbourne, Australia, I would like to share some insights gained from the project­ ­(Kennedy, Ridgway, & Surman, 2006). These insights can provide early childhood educators with ideas on how to build on and support family practices in literacy and ­numeracy (IRA & NAEYC, 1998; NCTM & NAEYC, 2002). High-quality early childhood programs are built on an ­understanding of the lives of the children and families we serve and bridge home and school environments. Here we describe our efforts to gather information about children’s home and community environments and use this to inform our practices, as well as to build relationships with families.

Families’ documentation of ­literacy and numeracy events

The 65 children aged 4 to 5 years and their parents ...