Abstract
The importance of the role of the family in the development of children’s early literacy has been widely recognized. Therefore, schools have frequently attempted to establish programs that help families promote their children’s literacy learning. This study explored early childhood teachers’ and parents’ perceptions about family literacy programs in which they got involved. It also examined practices used by teachers and parents to promote children’s literacy learning as well as to support the role of the family in the development of literacy. The sample included all teachers and parents who participated in the family literacy programs in two independent preschool settings in Qatar. A total of 16 teachers and 156 parents completed the self-reported questionnaires. Moreover, interviews with 10 teachers and 20 parents were conducted. Results indicated that teachers’ and parents’ perceptions and practices of family involvement programs were ranged from high to fairly moderate. A strong positive correlation was found between parents’ perceptions of family literacy programs and their practices, while teachers’ perceptions were not correlated with their practices. In light of the study findings, implications for expanding family literacy programs are described.
Highlights
Homes are the first social organization that children face from the very early years of childhood
The results indicated that teachers and parents hold moderate to high perceptions of family literacy programs implemented in their kindergarten
This was obvious in the interviews’ results because teachers indicated that the program was helpful in supporting school-family relations as it solved the problems related to the lack of parents’ interest in reading books to children, and parents’ inappropriate literacy expectations. This result is supported by the work of Hannon et al (2006) who indicated that parents of children expressed positive views about the effect of family literacy programs as they found these programs beneficial for young children
Summary
Homes are the first social organization that children face from the very early years of childhood. Family involvement with young children is extremely vital in developing children’s literacy skills. This could be difficult without building positive and effective relationships between home and school (Ihmeideh & Oliemat, 2015). Such relationships, as argued by Delgado-Gaitan (1993), require schools to develop comprehensive ways and strategies to support parents and/or family members in developing children’s literacy skills. Like other Gulf countries, Qatar has a strong Arabic culture stemming from Islamic principles and long-practiced social norms and traditions (Al-Kaabi, 2010). According Al-Kaabi (2010, p. 19), over three quarters of the parents have three or more children in their family; 78% and 21.9% have six children or more in the family
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