Making Literacy a Family Skill

It looks like just another story time at the public library--families listen to a story and make a craft item together. Parents read to their children.

But these parents are just learning to read themselves.

The once-a-month family story times at various Orange County Public Library branches and other locations are part of the library’s Families for Literacy program, an offshoot of the adult literacy program READ/Orange County.

“We want to break the intergenerational cycle of illiteracy,” said Amy McHatton, outreach/families specialist. There’s a direct correlation between the parent’s lack of literacy skills and the children’s, she said.

When a parent can’t read, “children miss out on that warm, fuzzy feeling we got when our parents read to us,” said Marcia Tungate, adult literacy services coordinator.

If children aren’t read to before they reach school, they don’t experience the joy of reading. Instead they see it as work, McHatton said.

Nationally, an estimated 44 million people (one in five adults) are considered functionally illiterate. In Orange County, the estimate is 350,000 to 400,000 people.

About 30 families participate in the library’s 2-year-old Families for Literacy program, which also offers information on how to help children be successful in school.

One participant is Hanan Kakish of Westminster, who attends the story times regularly with her children and sometimes brings neighborhood children along. Originally from Jordan, Kakish has worked with English tutors on and off for about six years.

She joined the families program because she wanted to learn how to read and write so she could help her three children with their homework. She was able to read and write “a little” before the program and believes her reading, writing, spelling and English pronunciation have improved markedly.

“I can now help my kids with their homework,” she said. “Before the program, I was nervous to talk to my kids’ teachers, but now I even go into their classrooms to help.”

To be eligible for the state-funded program, an adult must need help reading and writing and have at least one child under 5.

Readers get help starting a home library--a new book is given to the child and one to the family when they join. Then every child in the family receives a new book on his or her birthday.

Volunteer tutors, who attend 23 hours of training workshops, meet with the adults weekly and practice reading the storybook the parent will read at the family story time session. Families are asked to read to their children at least 15 minutes a day, McHatton said.

Success is measured in meeting personal goals. When people sign up for the adult program, their skills are assessed and they are asked to establish a goal. For some, it may be to pass a written driver’s license exam. Once they do that, some leave the program, but others stay on. For many, wanting to read to their children or help them with homework is a strong motivating factor, McHatton said.

Many of those in the adult literacy programs already have graduated from high school or received an equivalency degree. About 62% are native English speakers. Many are business owners and some even have taken college classes, McHatton said.

“It illustrates that reading is just a skill, not a measure of intelligence. Maybe they moved around a lot or didn’t finish school; for some reason, that light just didn’t come on,” she said. “We say there are as many reasons why people can’t read as there are people who can’t read.”

By the time they reach the adult program, Tungate said, many see themselves as failures. In hopes of reaching people earlier, Tungate has joined a national organization called First Book, which gives books to disadvantaged children.

“So many times these days, tutors and mentors are doing a wonderful job but there are no resources to give a child a book,” said Lynda Lancaster, vice president of community outreach at First Book. The Washington-based group distributed more than 1 million books in 1997.

For the poorest children, the lack of books is the most significant barrier to literacy, according to a Boston University study the organization cites.

A local First Book advisory board is being formed and board members are being sought. In addition, the board wants local tutoring, mentoring and literacy groups to apply for the books, which initially are donated by publishers, bookstores and school supply stores. This year, books also will come from holiday giving trees at Barnes and Noble bookstores. Local board members must develop fund-raising strategies to build on the supply of books. “I hope this program will get them now, so I don’t get them when they are 40,” Tungate said.

For information on the local First Book program or the Families for Literacy program, call (714) 566-3070 (READ/Orange County).