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Sharing
Julianne Zvalo Martyn
Program Manager
Raising A Reader
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
San Mateo, California
Promoting early literacy,
helping families
overcome barriers
“Hector doesn’t like me to read to him; he is always wiggling and running around.”
“I don’t know how to read English very well; my children will learn my mistakes.”
“I have three other children besides Stephanie. I don’t have time, and, anyways,
she’ll learn to read in school.”
Have you heard these or similar comments from the families in your program? As
Head Start professionals, you undoubtedly are aware of the value of parents or caregivers
sharing books with their children and of their involvement in their children’s education.
But as you also know, engaging families in book reading can be much more complicated
than just letting families know that reading with their young children is a simple yet e ective
way of improving their children’s listening and comprehension skills as well as their vocabulary
— all of which are integral to the development of literacy and cognitive skills. While
this is certainly important for families to know, you can’t stop here. If you want to boost
parental involvement in book reading, you’ll need to be aware of the obstacles that prevent
families from sharing books with their children and then develop strategies for overcoming
these obstacles.
Book sharing
Book sharing is a term used to refer to an interactive, one-on-one or small-group read-aloud
experience that occurs between caring adults and young children. I use the term book sharing
as a way of emphasizing that the experience is not always about reading the words. As
mentioned, book sharing promotes healthy brain development and increases early literacy
skills in children. In addition to these important outcomes, book sharing also facilitates parent-child
bonding.
THE MAGAZINE OF THE NATIONAL HEAD START ASSOCIATION Back-to-School 2008 CHILDREN AND FAMILIES 19