Overview of Parents' and Families' Contributions to Early Literacy

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Parents and families affect the child not only through heredity but also through the type of language environment they provide in the home. Their attitudes toward education and aspirations for their children, the language models and literacy materials they supply, and the activities they encourage all make a substantial contribution to children's language development (Burningham & Dever, 2005). As Comer (1998) observes:

Some families are closed out of the economic mainstream, and they cannot give their children the language experience, the social experience, the confidence that grows out of being able to operate in the society. Their children go to school unable to present themselves in a way that enables people to see their ability or potential. Teachers have lower expectations as a result. And so children lose their skills, their aspirations, and the potentials that were there, and they achieve at a lower level. A child's intelligence level is not fixed at birth. Young children are "underdeveloped" or "differently developed." (p. 12)

Four fundamental roles support and promote children's language development. These roles are initiated in the home and later reinforced in the educational setting. Those parents and families who are able to give their children the best chance at becoming literate have learned to observe children thoughtfully, arrange the environment to support language development, interact with children in ways that advance language growth, and motivate/encourage the child's efforts to master language (Goodman & Goodman, 1979).