Providing Early Literacy Experiences for Young Children through a Parent Education Program.

A practicum was designed to provide kindergarten students from low socioeconomic families with successful home literacy experiences in preparation for early school success. Parent/child literacy training workshops were designed and conducted to increase the awareness and frequency of home literacy activities. Providing regular reading aloud sessions at home and the modeling of adult literacy behaviors by parents were a major focus of the training provided. Eight solution strategies were developed to train and provide low income parents with the knowledge and materials necessary to increase the home literacy experiences of their children. Analysis of the data revealed that parents increased their frequency of reading aloud to their children during an 8-week period, increased the frequency of adult modeling behaviors, and increased their awareness of the importance of reading aloud to their children. (Two tables of data are included; 31 references and 3 appendixes--containing the family literacy survey, survey evaluation, and kindergarten/parent journal samples--are attached.) (Author/SR)