10
Literacy Totes and Multigenerational Community Engagement
Authors:
Jill Raisor- [email protected]
Joyce Gulley- [email protected]
Yajuan Xiang- [email protected]
Kaleigh Thompson- [email protected]
The tenets of early literacy education are anchored upon the belief that the most effective learning happens when young children are provided with authentic literacy experiences through nurturing relationships with the people around them (Larson & Marsh, 2014). Informal language activities transfer knowledge, skills, norms and values and create bonds between generations (Bus, Van Ijzendoorn, & Pellegrini, 1995; Taylor, Greenberg, & Terry,2016). Parents, grandparents and other family members engage young children with rich conversation, shared book reading, print-rich environment, and other authentic reading and writing opportunities (Chang, Luo, & Wu, 2016; Neumann, Hood, & Ford, 2013; Yeo, Ong, & Ng, 2014). Those informal language and literacy opportunities lay the foundation for future successful literacy achievement. The shared nurturing experience constructed across generations further reinforces language and literacy skills and connects children to their family’s culture and heritage (Enz, 122003).At the same time, the reality is that many families do not have regular access to intergenerational exchanges. A more mobile society, changing family structures, and an increase in dual-career families resulted in nuclear families moving away from extended families. In response to the reduction of intergenerational exchanges at home, early childhood educators look for opportunities to involve both parents and community members across generations in meaningful learning opportunities.
One such strategy is called a literacy tote. Literacy totes are one of the most effective ways to promote reading as a family which will enhance the literacy development of all members of the family (Brand, Marchand, Lilly, & Child, 2014; Grande, 2004; Richardson, Miller, Richardson, & Sacks, 2015; Vukelich, Christie, & Enz, 2002).
Figure 1: Interest Inventory, given to each preschool classroom