Children first learn about literacy at home. And families vary greatly in the ways that they introduce ideas about reading and writing to children. To take a few examples, some families may not talk much about literacy, but children will observe writing, print and labels at home and in their neighbourhood. Children may become familiar with 'environmental print' in logos like McDonald's or Bob the Builder, road signs and shop signs, or video labels. Children may see adults writing notes, handing over receipts at a shop till or sending text messages on their mobile phones.
Other families talk more about the reading and writing that they do. Parents may point out letters and talk about how family names are written. They may show children what they are writing. They may encourage early writing, like pretend shopping lists and 'signing' birthday cards. Stories and books might be frequently shared. In still other families, there is not so much of this informal talk and participation. The children are taught aspects of literacy directly by their parents - maybe the names of the letters of the alphabet, or how to write their names. In many families, children grow up knowing about literacy in two or more languages.
It is also important to remember that some parents find reading and writing both difficult and stressful. There are increasing numbers of courses in adult literacy being organised for parents. There are also family literacy courses for parents and children together. When these courses are taught with sensitivity to the needs of adult learners, they can have a very positive impact.
Early experiences
The implications of children's different early experiences are important. No child starts the Foundation Stage knowing nothing about communication language and literacy. It is up to the practitioner to find out what the child knows and then to work in partnership with the child's family to build upon this.
Partnership does not simply mean that practitioners inform families of what they are doing to promote each child's learning. It means that there is a two-way flow of information. Planning for the child, and assessment of her or his progress, takes full account of what the child is doing at home. Practitioners can then blend their professional understanding of how children learn with the unique insights that parents have into their own children.
For children learning English as an additional language, it is important for practitioners to emphasise the importance of the first language. Once again, the first step is to find out about children's experiences of literacy at home. Such experiences might include encountering print in their first language, either at home or in shops and places of worship. There may be a tradition in their culture of storytelling or acting out stories through dance.
Practitioners need to build upon what they find out from families in a real, not a tokenistic, way. For example, practitioners could invite parents into the setting to read stories to children in their home languages, or organise a cooking session involving a parent speaking in the family's first language. There could be examples in that language of print on food packets and in the recipe. Books and labels in the setting could be multilingual.
The important principle here is that each language has status in its own right. There is little value in having a bilingual book if the adults only read the English and ignore the other script. Children's mark-making and early writing will look different according to their experiences of writing at home. For example, it would be important for a practitioner to value the right-to-left mark-making of a child who sees adults writing in Arabic at home.
Starting points
The important thing to remember is that children begin with different starting points. In their families, there are different understandings of what literacy means. We should not expect that children will make progress one step at a time through a series of developmental stages. Their progress is less predictable than that. Practitioners need to:
* Identify and support what children do well. A child who knows a lot about environmental print needs to have this recognised, valued and encouraged. There should be opportunities for the child to interact with this type of print. Such opportunities could take place in the setting, or on a trip or a walk to the shops. The practitioner can build on this interest and expertise by talking to the child about individual letters in the logos and print.
* Widen children's experiences from their initial starting points. A child who knows a lot about logos could be introduced to storybooks which are full of labels and signs - for example, The Great Pet Sale by Mick Inkpen (Hodder Children's Books, 5.99).
Further information
* For information about organising adult literacy and family literacy courses, contact the Basic Skills Agency at www.basic-skills.co.ukor tel: 020 7405 4017.
