Family-focused early learning programs aim to assist parents in supporting their young children language and literacy development. This study examined program access and learning opportunities for diverse families across a wide range of community-based settings in one eastern Canadian province. As well, the study examined practitioners'…

Family literacy programs in North America and the United Kingdom have enjoyed widespread public and political support. Thousands of initiatives following a variety of models currently operate under the spectrum of family literacy programs. In this paper, the influence of learning theories, the research on children's early literacy development, and…

This paper describes a family literacy project that involved parents whose children were attending a pre-school centre in a low socio-economic suburb of Perth, Western Australia. A formative experimental design was used to examine the home literacy practices of the families as described by the parents, and to construct a series of workshops. The…

Among the reasons for growth in family literacy programs are the expansion of knowledge about how children learn, the need to involve parents and families more directly in programs for young children, and evidence supporting the relationship between parental education levels and children's school success. Intergenerational literacy programs are…

This newsletter theme issue focuses on the impact of learning disabilities within families, specifically families with low literacy skills. It explores the effectiveness of family literacy programs, examines the connection between the field of family literacy and learning disabilities (LD), and offers suggestions on how to work with students with…

This report announces the publication of an annotated bibliography on family literacy and family literacy programs. The bibliography summarizes writings and research on family literacy and on topics directly relevant to family literacy programs. Directed toward program staff, researchers, community leaders, and policymakers, the publication covers…

In an effort to recruit more adults in the 18-25 age group, the Greenville Literacy Council of Greenville, Pennsylvania, developed the Keys for Kids program, which was designed to teach young parents to foster emergent literacy skills in their preschoolers and thereby improve their own literacy skills. An 8-week training program was developed to…

This document presents and discusses the 12 family literacy standards for family literacy programs in Saskatchewan, Canada, that were developed during a 2-year process by Saskatchewan's Family Literacy Best Practices committee. The document is: (1) an educational tool to develop greater understanding of effective literacy practices; (2) a program…