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Literacy and Head Start Quality

By Trellis Waxler, Program Specialist, Education Services Branch, Head Start Bureau

Research shows that exposing children to print, books, and reading aloud provides them with important concepts about print which prepare them to learn to read. As a result, the Advisory Committee on Head Start Quality and Expansion has encouraged Head Start to place a greater emphasis on the emerging literacy concept to prepare children for reading, and thereby ensure their school readiness.

Through its efforts to enhance literacy acquisition as a vital component of Head Start quality, Head Start has supported several specific literacy initiatives designed to assist local Head Start programs in developing multifaceted literacy programs.

Special demonstration grants have been awarded to Head Start grantees for literacy enhancement efforts. These Family Service Centers (FSCs) include family literacy as a major component. Early findings show that Head Start grantees with FSCs have twice the rate of adult participation in GED programs as do grantees with no FSC programs.

Additionally, the Emergent Literacy Initiative has been established to design and implement strategies and approaches to support and strengthen the emergent literacy activities carried out by Head Start grantees. Under this demonstration, emergent literacy refers to activities that are conducted with young children during the period when they are beginning to become aware of print, to observe and experiment with reading and writing, and to understand the relationship between the written and spoken word. The current emergent literacy grantees are: University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho; Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois; and the Children's Literacy Initiative, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Head Start/Library of Congress Interagency Agreement was developed to demonstrate in communities nationwide how libraries that serve young children can plan and work with Head Start grantees to enhance both learning and parent involvement in children's literacy and language development.

Head Start has also collaborated with Even Start since its inception, specifically with its adult literacy program. The Head Start Bureau has also developed a number of publications and materials for its grantees on recommended practices and resources designed to help programs develop and/or improve their family literacy programs.

Head Start programs have implemented a wide variety of activities to encourage the emergent literacy of the children they serve. These activities include:

• Integrated books into the daily curriculum and various learning center activities;
  
  
• Creating an appropriate environment for quiet reading for both children and parents;
  
  
• Displaying books in an attractive manner with props to attract children;
  
  
• Providing books that are culturally and developmentally appropriate;
  
  
• Making and using reading enhancements such as puppets and flannel boards;
  
  
• Encouraging parents to read to their children and provide family literacy activities;
  
  
• Training parents and staff to select appropriate books for their children;
  
  
• Increasing the storytelling skills of staff and parents. Soon to be available from Head Start is a video and materials for "Stories Keep Us Connected" which encourages parents to support their children's growth and learning through shared stories and experiences. Available in English and Spanish; and
  
  
• Encouraging staff and parents to become reading models for children.

Additionally, Head Start grantees have played a key role in the family literacy movement by:

• Increasing Head Start families' access to materials, activities, and services which are essential to family literacy development, such as obtaining library cards;
  
  
• Supporting parents in the role of being their child's first teacher by providing encouragement and direction to Head Start families in providing activities which stimulate and sustain their children's interest and potential for future independent success in literacy activities; and
  
  
• Assisting parents as adult learners to recognize and address their own literacy needs by creating environments which are positive, supportive, and offer the promise of benefiting both them and their children.

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