School Readiness and Hectors Family - Essay Example

School Readiness The three home literacy environments that were described by Van Steensel were the rich, child-directed and poor environments. In reading about these environments, I wondered about Hectors environment and it would seem that he is in a poorer environment at this time. He does not seem to have much stimulation at home that is school related, and this may be one of the reasons that he is having problems with his letters. Writing is a skill like math or other subjects, and it must be practiced in order for a child to do well. A childs home environment will have a large bearing on whether a child learns to read. If there are books in the home, if the child becomes curious about these books and the child is read to at least at bedtime, the child will learn language skills. In Hectors house he may have books but they may not be used during the day or evening. Van Steensels study suggested that when parents are involved in helping children with school related literacy activities, "some form of acculturation plays a role" (Van Steensel, p. 378). This means that literacy activities are helping not only to help the childs reading but also to assist them in acculturation. Children must also work with words both written and spoken in order to gain an understanding about them and how they work. Parents are also helped in this situation especially if they are having problems with learning English or they need to brush up on their English. Children are naturally curious and if they are reading at home, or pretending to read as many children do, they will become curious about the book and what the words say. Usually, children will start with looking at the pictures and making up stories until they notice the letters. I think the most important thing for Hector to do is to practice his letters which would be the number one choice. However, I do think that he would also need some assistance from family to get him started at working with the lined papers. Korat (2001) suggests that interaction with children who are learning to read and discover language. In a home environment if everyone is talking together during a literacy activity, the child will focus more on the activity and become more interested in the learning. Interaction promotes a more natural way for someone to pick up language. Hill (2001) also suggests that parental involvement in working with children "are more strongly related to improvement of the reading than math performance" (p. 687). Hill also found that a childs economic levels could also influence what a child learned. This suggests that "poverty and limited educational opportunities, and not ethnic minority status, seemed more important in understanding differences in parental involvement" (p. 687). Hector would learn his letters better if someone could supervise his writing the letters, but it seems that he may not be making a connection between the letters and what he is supposed to write. This could be an indication of a learning disability that may need to be looked into later. The fact that he is having trouble writing his letters may have something to do with not getting enough language stimulation at home. If this is the case, then there is more to be done with him than only having him make his letters. Hector needs to have a way to practice letters and words also. As an example, if his grandmother could read to him at least once a day, this would be helpful, especially if he starts saying the letters so that he can identify the letters with what he is writing. Hill suggests that the way that parenting affects early school achievement and "maternal warmth or acceptance" (Hill, p. 693). The study says that Hectors father is a single parent but it does not say what happened to his mother or whether his mother has contact with her family. This could also mean that Hectors mother is not in the country yet or something else happened to her. This being the case, it would seem that his grandmother or older sister would be able to help him. Brooks-Gunn and Markman (2005) concur with Hill and Korat in that a parent getting involved with learning is very important. Brooks-Gunn and Markman suggest that nurturing behavior helps a children become ready for school. This means that if a parent is not nurturing the child, they may have challenges learning. This could be the case with Hector if he is not getting his needs met with his family. Brooks-Gunn and Markman also suggested that "when parents read to their children, they vary in how often they ask the child questions, expand on what is in the story, and see whether the child understands the meaning of a word" (p. 142). When parents read to their children, the children also become more curious about the books and about the words on a page. This could help Hector have some quiet time with his father or grandmother. If the twins are not too much trouble, perhaps grandmother could read to Hector, or read to all three children as part of their activity when she is watching them. They suggest that this is natural course for parents. I think that when anyone reads to a child, they are asking questions and making sure that the child understands the story. This is why it is important for Hector to have someone read to him. I did not make many assumptions about Hectors family other than they are very busy. With his father working in the fields supervision other workers who are picking crops, this indicates that he may be an immigrant or that he is doing unskilled labor. I did wonder whether the family was literate or not because there does not seem to be a mention of whether the small children or the older daughter are reading at home. This may not be important to the scenario, but this would be something that needs to be explored. I also wonder about the age of his grandmother because she may or may not be able to help him with reading, depending on her own skills. It would seem to me that the best candidate for helping him may be his sister because she is also going to school. She is in fifth grade so she may be able to help Hector. I think that the drawback from my suggestion is that family members have to make the time to help Hector. According to the scenario, his father is very busy and is a single parent. His grandmother takes care of the kids until his older sister gets home. At that point, the older sister has to take care of the children. So, it may be difficult for them to make some time for Hector. I would talk to the family and help them find a way to help Hector. It would be important to help them identify even a small amount of time for them to read a story to Hector so that this would happen easier. One other idea that I would consider mentioning to the family is getting Hector a library card. In many places they have a bookmobile for rural areas or there may be a library close by. If the library is close, there may be a story time at the library that his grandmother may be able to take him to once in awhile. This may get him interested in writing his letters more and in reading. References Brooks-Gunnn, J. and Markman, L.B. (2005). The contribution of parenting to ethnic and racial gaps n school readiness. The Future of Children. 15 (1). School readiness: closing racial and ethnic gaps. p. 139-168. Retrieved January 25, 2010 from http://www.evenstartnetwork.net/pdf/Articles03pdf. Hill, N.E. (2001). Parenting and academic socialization as they relate to school readiness: The roles of ethnicity and family income. Journal of Educational Psychology. 93(4). p. 686-697. Retrieved January 25, 2010 from psycARTICLES database. DOI: 10.1037/0022-0663.93.4.686. Read More