How do we support parents in promoting literacy activities in the early childhood years?
Research on parenting in Jamaica has consistently shown that parents really wish to learn more about and be supported in their parenting. This is a good first step on which to build early language and literacy activities. Despite the interest in learning more about parenting, many parents feel threatened, even embarrassed to attend parent support classes. If we add to this, parents' own concerns about their reading ability, then we must develop strategies to ensure that all parents can feel supported and confident in engaging in language and literacy promoting activities. Promoting activities for which all parents, even those who feel they cannot read well, can participate is one such strategy. Activities that promote early language and literacy activities in young children include listening to jingles and rhymes, playing interactive clapping and hide and seek games, and providing children with books with pictures. Though all parents can participate in these activities, and many do so, the frequency of engagement with children may be inadequate. Many parents are not aware how important these activities are to children's later development. A second strategy would therefore be to provide parents with this knowledge. This requires wide public education using media that will reach all our parents. A third strategy is the principle of meeting parents where they are. That is, finding out what they have been doing to promote language and literacy and building on their own efforts. This helps parents to become more confident about their parenting. What other strategies can we use to address special groups of parents or all parents?
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Comments (8)
There is no doubt
There is no doubt that parents want their children to learn to read and want to help them to do so. The fact is many do not have a clue. The strategies Maureen has suggested are practicable and should be taken off the page and given flesh. I want to bat for a programme which is now gaining much traction in several Caribbean countries after it was developed in Jamaica and the impact assessment showed it effective-- the Roving Caregivers Programme(RCP). This programme was able to reach both parents and young children where they were. Its objective was early stimulation and parents learnt how to stimulate their children by watching the trained rovers do it. The programme then achieved two objectives: it provided early stimulation for birth to three children while teaching parents how to continue the activities after the rover had left. Why it was never brought to scale I don't know but Maureen you are rightly placed to answer or to do something about it. Teachers also have a critical role to play but if some cannot read how can they teach reading? The research shows that one of the biggest contributor to language and literacy development is quality adult-child interaction. The challenge for us therefore is how to get parents and teachers to interact with young children in a stimulating way instead of just issuing instructions.
for consideration
My suggestion may be more appropriate for the urban areas and/or may be controversial but... Have we considered a role for television in helping in literacy? Most areas, even inner-city ones, especially in Kgn and St. Andrew have access to cable and there are a lot of educational programmes targetting the pre-school age. Could parents be encouraged to use these programmes to stimulate their children? (Our children may end up with american accents!)
Thanks to all who have
Thanks to all who have participated in this rich dialogue. I agree with you that emergent literacy skills begin when the child is in the womb. Here are some ideas that I have had for a number of years: 1. We need a structured programme with audio/visual material and demonstrations on how to use waste material for early learning, in our ante-natal clinics, to teach mothers how to stimulate their children in the early critical years. 2. About 13 years ago, I tried to introduce a programme, which was being done at Boston Medical Centre in the USA, to some Jamaican paediatricians. The programme is called “Reach out and Read”, the essence of the programme is that every time a child visits the clinic between age 6 weeks and 3 years the doctor introduces an age-appropriate book and demonstrates to the parent how to use it. In addition, while the children and parents wait to be seen by the doctor, a volunteer reads to them and introduces simple activities with paper, crayons and toys. The result is that the parents learn how to stimulate their children and the children begin to learn and enjoy books. The home will also be enriched because there will be at least 8 books for the child. The Jamaican paediatricians liked the idea but clearly stated that their clinics were too full and they did not have the time. I tried to introduce the programme through the parish library in a project that was being proposed for St. Catherine but this also did not materialize. Last year, I mentioned the idea to another paediatrician who has encouraged me to write a proposal for a pilot. I have not yet had the time to begin the writing process but is seems as if ‘the fullness of time’ has come. We also can and must produce inexpensive and culturally relevant books for our children. I look forward to working with some of you to establish some similar programmes in every corner of Jamaica.
Assistive Technology and programs to promote literacy
Certainly there are television programs that are educational and meant to stimulate learning. Sesame street being a very good example. The value of such programs will be enhanced when the child has the opportunity to interact his or her parent or guardian while watching such programs. There are many other assistive technology that Early Childhood institution could use also to support literacy development. E.g. Headsprout early readingIn addition, Early Childhood institutions can also provide parents with workshops to educate parents on how they can promote early literacy development.
Help for parents
The problem is most prevalent in our underserved communities where parents face myriad of challenges in their bid to develop their child/ren in a positive and creative way.When our national average reads our illiteracy level at 12% it is three times or 36% in these underserved communities. To make a serious dent to illiteracy and to guarantee achieving the objectives of the 2030 Millenium Developmental Goals as it relates to literacy, a comprehensive approach is needed with an emphasis on the most vulnerable.I suggest:The Roving Caregivers Programme mentioned earlier by the Doctor should be looked at closely with much consultation from community stakeholders, both in the formal and informal sector, so as to identify and understand the needs and deficiencies that are acting as roadblocks to functional literacy.Within this programme, it should be mandated that every parent both male and female should complete a certificate course in Early Childhood Education with a practical component being their home. [ The RCP should facilitate this training in collaboration with the Ministry of Education]. The Roving Caregivers Programme must also be sustainable and should be involved in the production and publication of educational materials and audio -visual teaching aids relevant to the Jamaican children and family, where parents and children can feature in educational films and programmes geared at stimulating early learning and a life long love for reading, while providing an income to offset important educational and other developmental expenses.Every project that is to be implemented in these underserved communities must be accompanied by an independent monitoring and evaluating team to ensure value for money and monitoring of objectively verifiable indicators.
program monitoring and evaluation
The Roving Caregiving program have recieved relative sucess in terms of teaching parents/ guardians how to engage and stimulate their child's learning. I agree with Khanhi that in order to see sustained results of the program there has to be continuous monitoring and evaluation. Does anyone know the current status of the program in Jamaica?
The Roving
The Roving Caregivers' Programme (RCP) captures the major gap i.e. the birth to three age cohort in the ECD sector. The RCP works simultaneously with parents and children. NB. the involvement of parent is critical in this process. The programme targets children in extremely at risk situations (inner city, violence-prone, deep-rural and low literacy level communities. Evaluation of RCP done by UNICEF. Recommendations for replication made by the Taskforce on Educational Reform as far back as 2004. The community involvement is compatible with the evolution of the three-six component of the ECD programme. The RCP lends itself to the partnership that can be forged with NGOs, the Church and other community groups. Additionally the programme benefits Rovers who are usually young adolescents in that many of them have identified and pursued career paths. An incredible spin-off effect. The exposure to the conditions of participants in the programme reinforces the stark realities of teenage pregnancies, and the consequencies of unplanned parenting, early dropout of the formal education system and extreme poverty.A major gap in the readiness programme is that the majority of the early childhood cohort start the readiness programme with learning deficits as a result of inappropriate early stimulation. An effective strategy is therefore to target children in the birth to three with the greatest need. In so doing, this will level the playing field by providing adequate and appropriate exposure for the majority of children, birth to three and three to six. The net result would be improved readiness at grade one. To: Subject: program monitoring and evaluationDate: Wed, 14 Mar 2012 22:32:25 -0400From: eduexchange6@jamaica.kdid.org
supporting parents in promoting literacy
Professor Samms Vaughan hits the proverbial 'nail on the head' where she says that, 'activities that promote early language and literacy activites in young children including jingles and rhymes, playing interactive clapping, and hide and seek games, and providing children with books and pictures'. I want to share some of my undocumented experiences with the readers. Presently, I am doing early stimulation with my eight month old grandson, and at the sight of the flash card with the picture of a truck, he puffs out a sound and stretches his arm in a way to drive, because that is what grandma does. yesterday, he was clapping, because he listens to "clap 1,2,3-clap 1,2,3". On the sound of 'clap 1,2,3, he claps. Not a lot, but what I know is that early stimulation from parents, and can I say grandparents helps a lot. And parents need to know that frequency of engagement helps, I have been doing this with my grandson from he was three months and i do structured stimulation exercises two times per week for at least two -three hours each time with frequent breaks. How do we provide parents with more knowledge? let us share some of what is available. I am sharing because i do not have small children, but my recent engagement has sparked my renewed interest in teaching, as a non-practicing teacher with 40 years of experience. I will contribute some more later.