Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial of the Motheread/Fatheread Early Literacy Intervention: Evidence of Impact in a Rural Community

“Somos fieles creyentes”: children’s construction of spiritual and literate identities at home

“…Familial support can be initiated and/or maintained within the context of community-based early literacy programs that expand upon familial funds of knowledge and resources (Fikrat-Wevers et al , 2021). For instance, family literacy programs that promote familial dialogue (Hirsh et al , 2019) and encourage adult-child conversations about everyday household events and activities, including mealtime and spiritual/religious routines (Leyva and Skorb, 2017; Reese et al , 2010), strengthen children’s oral language and vocabulary development (Van der Pluijm et al , 2019). This is important because the size of children’s vocabularies is frequently cited as a predictor of children’s literacy development and school-readiness (Tamis-LeMonda et al , 2014).…”

Enhancing children’s numerical skills through a play-based intervention at kindergarten and at home: a quasi-experimental study

“…Thus, just as it has been suggested that focusing on enjoyment rather than on educational value was more conducive to the recruitment of low-income families in home-based interventions (Lingwood et al, 2018), providing international games might be more attractive for the families who need it the most compared with a family mathematics curriculum (Starkey & Klein, 2000) or attending 12 evening classes (Hirsh et al, 2019). Of particular interest, in the literature regarding home-based literacy interventions, authors have emphasized that sensitive and emotional relationships between parents and their children should not be disrupted by the pressure that could arise from a teaching-learning situation (van Steensel et al, 2011).…”

“…For example, recruiting parents through an appeal or controlling the parental adhesion through attendance at training sessions or home visits creates a risk of truncating the sample and therefore the results. In some studies that have attempted to enhance the home numeracy/literacy environment in low-income families, special efforts have been made to reach the targeted audience using radio advertisements, door-to-door recruitment, an offer of meals and childcare during information sessions (Dulay et al, 2018;Hirsh et al, 2019). However, such implementations clearly require more than the usual school resources.…”