Research on the home literacy environment has typically involved parents as teachers with little attention given to siblings' roles in teaching each other. This study examines naturalistic language and literacy teaching by 39 sibling dyads, at two timepoints, when children were ages 2 and 4 (time 1; T1) and again at ages 4 and 6 (time 2; T2). Each…

According to the United Nations, nearly a quarter of a billion people now live outside their country of birth, and it is predicted that this number will increase dramatically over the next decade or so. This international movement of people means that, increasingly, teachers and educators work with immigrant and refugee children and families who…

Purpose: This study investigated the effects of a family literacy program on Latino parents' language practices at home and their children's oral language skills. The study examined the extent to which (a) the program called "Family Reading Intervention for Language and Literacy in Spanish" was effective at teaching low-income,…

After receiving a multiyear federal grant, an urban school district and community agency that focused on family literacy implemented a comprehensive school reform initiative called Providence Full Service Community Schools (PFSCS). A host of community partners collaborated to develop the PFSCS model with the broad goal of strategically connecting…

Father involvement in children's education is known to have increased over the years, yet less is known about their involvement with children outside of school, particularly after children attend formal schooling. Such information could provide more knowledge of children's literacy engagement in schools as well as have implications for future…

The increasing number of English learners in local communities in the U.S. include both children and their family members. There is an urgent need to provide educational support for both generations of English learners. In this report from the field, a partnership program using a two-generation approach is described. Based on interviews,…

Low levels of childhood literacy in global contexts may be mitigated by educational technologies, however, these technologies often rely on parents of sufficient literacy to effectively support their children. Given low levels of adult literacy in many low-resource contexts, we investigate the nature of low-literate adult support for children's…

The Students and Parents In Cooperative Education (SPICE) Family Literacy Program serves central Maine's Regional School Unit #3 (RSU 3). SPICE's mission is to integrate childhood and adult education. RSU 3 spreads across 440 square miles. Over this vast distance, there is no one town where people gather. So SPICE educators went straight to their…

Home literacy environment (HLE) makes an important contribution to children's reading acquisition in early years. Even though some research on children's perception exists, children's reports about HLE have been neglected. The present study focuses on N = 281 six-year-old's reports about HLE and its influences on literacy enjoyment, frequency, and…

The effect of digital literacy practices upon young children's learning is a contentious and growing area for research and debate. Nowadays, children encounter many different types of texts through their everyday engagement with digital technologies. The study reported here investigated the relationships between 6 and 7-year-old children's home…

Urbanization is causing a major shift in Extension's programming throughout the United States. We present results of a nontraditional urban program (the Parent-Child Reading Enhancement Program) that is being implemented by Alabama Cooperative Extension System's Urban Affairs and New Nontraditional Programs unit. Findings suggest that this…

Families have been faced with new challenges and uncertainties during the unprecedented times when the world came to a standstill due to COVID-19 in March 2020. The pandemic caused a shut-down of schools and a shift to a remote learning environment with little chance to prepare and understand learning expectations from schools and other…

In the past, physical barriers such as geography and distance limited global communication. In this paper, we explore how young children in immigrant families engage in transnational literacy practices. Specifically, we explore the transnational funds of knowledge that result from those experiences. This three-year longitudinal collective case…

While the original Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 established no requirements for family involvement, every subsequent reauthorization has made stipulations for the inclusion of families in their children's education (Mapp, 2012). Additionally, the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA) shifted the requirement from "parent…

In this article, we share findings from three qualitative studies, illustrating how children of color and their families make meaning of the racial, linguistic, cultural, and gendered worlds in which they develop. The first study examines how White adoptive Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer (LGBTQ) parents engage in race conscious child-rearing…