Training parents as literacy tutors
Abstract
A parent's involvement with his or her child's literacy education can increase success. However, many parents do not feel they know how to help their children learn to read. This practice suggests providing a basic level of literacy tutor training to the parents and caregivers. Excerpted from Northwest Regional Education Laboratory's Building Effective Partnerships publication.Issue
Parents can help their children learn to read, but many are not sure how to start. Literacy tutor training can be provided to the parents to increase their self-confidence and give them the tools to teach their children to read.Action
According to LEARNS:
- Instruct parents how to teach letter-sound relationships, recognize word patterns and use effective read-together strategies with their children. Parents as Tutors, a program of Cleveland Reads in Ohio, found that almost 100 percent of the material presented was new to the parents.
- Include articles in newsletters with tips for parents to use to teach reading. The staff of America Reads in Muskegon, Michigan, writes a column in the school newsletter.
- Use packaged programs, such as Jim Trelease's Read Aloud video.
- Train parents using interactive tools such as role playing and group discussions.
- Hold a family night for parents of tutored children as suggested by Princeton Young Achievers in New Jersey.
- Have PTA-sponsored literacy workshops led by a master trainer to instruct read-aloud skills to guardians.