Family and Parent Literacy Program

BEYOND HOLA: MIS COSITAS---BEYOND HELLO—MY LITTLE THINGS…THAT mean a lot....LITERACY Building to a family through augmenting literacy for all.

… BEYOND HOLA, COMO ESTAS—GUIDE FOR SUPPORTING LITERACY IN CULTURALLY LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE FAMILIES.

Spanish to English Family Literacy Program

This program helps teachers and other community members assist diverse families facilitate literacy within their own children

Rationale for this Program

The rapidly shifting demographics of school-aged children, as well as continuing projections for the future, suggest that the enrollment of children who are culturally and linguistically different from what is considered the mainstream U.S. culture will continue to increase. These students may differ from the mainstream in ethnicity, primary language spoken at home, and social class (Au & Raphael, 2000). To improve the academic achievement of children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, educators must be responsive and sensitive to the variety of cultures in the United States. Historically, children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds have not experienced high levels of academic success because their literacy needs often were unaddressed as they were encouraged to assimilate into the mainstream. This program addresses this void by availing methods of literacy facilitation to parents and families.