Family Literacy

"I'm my child's first and best WHAT?"

"When I first heard the phrase, 'You are your child's first and best teacher,' I didn't know what that meant. I never thought about me being a teacher. In fact, I didn't know I could teach my child anything. After all, I was trying to get a GED myself. Besides, I thought that was the teacher's job," commented Crystal. She and her son are participants in the Bryan I.S.D. Even Start Family Literacy program where Crystal is learning to be her child's first and best teacher.

Family literacy is defined by the National Center for Family Literacy as "...an approach to intergenerational poverty and under education. It is based on a simple but powerful premise: parents and children can learn together and enhance each other's lives." There are several federal initiatives that use family literacy as a strategy to break the intergenerational cycle of dependency that is created by low educational achievement. Even Start is one of these initiatives and was originally funded in 1989.

Bryan I.S.D. Even Start is a comprehensive family literacy program with four integrated components: adult education, early childhood education, parent/child interaction time, and parenting classes. Parents attend BISD Even Start four days a week and go to GED (high school equivalency diploma) preparation classes, English as a second language classes, and parenting classes. Children attend the on-site child development center where emerging literacy and language development is facilitated. Parents spend structured time with their children each day to "practice" skills they have learned in parenting classes.

Goals of the program include:

• to raise the education level of parents;
• to improve parenting skills; and
• to help parents become full partners in the education of their children; in other words, to become their child's "first and best teacher."

Parents in BISD Even Start are learning to be full partners in the education of their children. Activities in parenting classes, family nights, and field trips teach parents the importance of and ways to become their child's "first and best teacher."

"I've learned it's up to me to get my daughter ready to go to school. You need to do things to help your child's brain grow. You need to sing to them, read to them, and talk a lot," said Endina. "Even Start taught me how to read a book to my child."

Another parent, Carina, commented to her teacher, "I liked it when we planted the garden. I told my son, Sergio, the plant is like him. It's like his life. He grows and learns everyday. And if he makes good choices, he'll have good opportunities of what he does in life."

The parents and their children enjoy our family nights at Even Start. Teresa, a young mother, remarked, "We had a family reading time at family night. Everyone practiced reading a children's book. Then we made puppets and other things to go with the book. That night the kids went around and listened to all our books. They got so excited about the puppets."

Rosa said, "At home, I made a puppet with a sock and I let the puppet read the book to my son. Then he made the puppet read the book. Before he came to Even Start, my son couldn't speak much. Now he talks more and he knows how to count, and knows his colors and his shapes."

Another Even Start parent commented, "We had another family night that was lots of fun. We had all these science and math activities to do with our children, except we forgot they were science and math because they were fun. We had a box of chocolates and we had to talk about what was in the box before we opened it. After we opened it, we took the things out and graphed them by size, shape, and color. I never thought about doing something like that before, but now I can point things out at home. On family night, we get lots of new and good ideas."

Mary proudly stated, "My husband went with me to family night. My little girl liked that her dad was there. He spent time with her. Used to, he didn't help so much at home. He thought it was the mom's job to take care of the kids. Now he helps my little girl and gets more involved with the school. We feel happier."

It's not easy for parent to have the time and energy to come to class. Maria told me, "It's hard to come to school when you have a family. You have to spend time taking care of your family and it just gets hard. But it's worth it because this will give us a beautiful future for our family."

Crystal sums up the feelings of many Even Start parents when she remarked, "I found the Even Start program and then I felt like I wasn't on my own anymore. I spend time with my son now instead of spending time on the phone. We've learned how to do things together. I used to spend too much time watching TV. Now I know how to play with him, read to him, and show him he's important. I never had a mother and father and I didn't know how to be a good mother. I'm glad I learned how to be a better mother. I've stopped thinking as a child and now I'm thinking more like an adult. I thought it was too late, but it's never too late. I guess I can be my child's first and best teacher."

Mary Blackburn received her bachelor's degree in education from Baylor University and her master's degree in pre-school education from University of Houston, Clear Lake. She has taught kindergarten and first grade in public schools. She was program director and instructor in child development at San Jacinto College, North Campus and adjunct instructor at UHCL in early childhood education. She was director of the NAEYC accredited child development center and Coordinator of Special Populations at San Jacinto College, North. At present, Mary is coordinator of the Even Start Family Literacy Program for Bryan Independent School District. Mary continues to work with children in a church setting. She enjoys reading, going to movies and plays. She and her husband, John, have four children, one granddaughter and one on the way.