Three major factors have been identified as crucial elements in a child’s reading success¹:

• Literacy’s value in the home
• Parents’ and caregivers’ time spent reading with the child
• The availability and use of various reading materials at home²

Home library size is as important as parents’ education in determining educational attainment for children. Children who grow up in homes with 500 books end up receiving three additional years of education as compared to those who grow up in homes without books. These results were found to be independent of other factors such as parents’ education, occupation, and class.
Families who don’t have 500 books should not be discouraged. Each addition to a home library helps children get a little farther in school. These gains are greater for children from least-educated families.
When families make reading, talking about books, and using knowledge part of their everyday routines and practices (especially in their Native language), their child gains competencies for school and a preference and enjoyment of books.

Reading aloud:

• Promotes the message books are enjoyable.
• Improves children’s listening comprehension which contributes to reading comprehension.
• Contributes to success in every subject in school.
• Helps children learn to identify and write their own names and other familiar names.
• Helps children identify and write some letters.
• Enhances children’s understanding of the concept of print.
• Encourages children to retell stories with a well-developed narrative structure.
• Helps children develop a large vocabulary.• Provides background knowledge in a variety of areas.
• Teaches the basics of and demonstrates phonological awareness.

Crucial factors in promoting language and literacy

Specific factors have been found to positively influence children’s language growth and literacy. Some of them include:

• Reading to children from a young age: Starting early is not about a child understanding books but about conditioning him to hear his parents’ voices and look at books. Just as parents start talking to their child even before he is born, they should also read to him.³
• Reading to children on a regular basis: Reading aloud should be part of every child’s daily routines. Parents of early readers often not only read to their children, but are avid readers themselves. Parents provide a role model for their child. Extending this further, a child who observes family members reading and writing to accomplish important tasks is more likely to engage in literacy activities of his own choosing.
• Literacy materials in abundance in the home: Not only present, but used! Materials include picture books, magazines, newspapers, paper, writing tools—which don’t need to be elaborate or expensive.
• Parents’ attitude toward education and literacy: This also includes parents’ aspirations for their child, the language models they provide, the literacy materials they supply and the activities they encourage. These parents answer endless questions, praise their child’s reading and writing efforts, write down their child’s stories, display written work, and more. As children grow, they will help organize and monitor their child’s time, help with homework, and discuss school matters together.

How FACE parent educators can help families support literacy in their homes and encourage families to read to their children:

• Take books on every personal visit.
• Make sure book sharing occurs during each visit.
• Loan books to families.
• Every child enrolled in FACE needs to also be enrolled in Imagination Library.
• Consider starting a local book drive to get more books in families’ homes.
• During personal visits, model for the parents how they should read and interact with their children.
• Use books as incentives for participating in personal visits, FACE Family Circles.
• Plan a FACE Family Circle with early literacy and books as the focus.

The benefits of reading can be summed up this way:

Citations:
1. Parent Educator Resource: The Benefits of Reading (pp.623-626); Parents as Teachers Foundational Curriculum
2. Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998 as edited by Mraz & Razinski 2007
3. Trealease, 2006
4. Trealease, 2006 pp. xxv