Using Home Visits to Enhance Literacy Skills

1. Using Home Visits to Enhance Literacy Skills Carla Peterson Gayle Luze Kere Hughes-Belding Iowa State University June 2, 2010

2. Carla Peterson Professor Human Development and Family Studies E262 Lagomarcino Hall Iowa State University Ames, IA 50011 carlapet@iastate.edu 515-294-7804 Contact Information

3. Overview • What is developmental parenting? • How practitioners can facilitate developmental parenting • Considerations for promoting language and literacy development

4. How young children learn • What is this child learning? • How is this child learning? • What does this tell us about how to intervene with young children and their families?

5. Home Visiting – Intervention – Learning

6. Today’s Discussion • Using a parenting-focused model to facilitatedevelopmental parenting to keep learning alive between home visits

7. Developmental Parenting • What parents do to support their children’s learning and development • Values a child’s development, supports a child’s development, changes along with a child’s development • Is warm, responsive, encouraging, and communicative • Is what many early childhood programs strive to increase

8. Facilitative Approach • A facilitative approach makes developmental parenting easier • Emphasis is on child development • Focus is on parent-child interactions that support early development • Practitioner uses strategies to assess and expand on family strengths to support early development

9. Triadic Interactions -- Coaching • Coaching -- a reciprocal process between a coach and a learner, comprised of a series of conversations focused on mutually agreed upon outcomes” (Rush et al., 2003, p. 34).

10. Triadic Interactions -- Coaching • Coaching involves • supporting and encouraging an individual during the process of learning and using new skills by giving specific feedback about performance (Kaiser & Hancock, 2003).

11. Triadic Interactions -- Coaching • This learner focused context • provides a framework for • self observation, • self correction, • reflection, and • discussion that • actively engages the learner by providing multiple opportunities to practice new skills with guided feedback (Rush et al., 2003).

12. Coaching Process – Components • Initiation • Observation • Action • Reflection • Evaluation (Hanft, Rush, & Shelden, 2004)

13. Facilitative Approach -- A B C • Approach and attitudes • Behaviors • Content

14. Facilitative Attitudes • Practitioners show facilitative attitudes when they are • Responsive to family strengths and culture • Flexible in strategies and activities • Supportive and accepting in relationships with the family

15. Facilitative Behaviors • Practitioners show facilitative behaviors when they • Focus parents on child development • Elicit parent-child interaction • Support developmental parenting behaviors • Establish a collaborative partnership with parents • Involve other family members • Use family activities as learning opportunities

16. Facilitative Content • Practitioners provide facilitative content when they • Provide information parents want and need now • Emphasize broad developmental foundations • Plan a “curriculum” on developmental parenting • Help parents plan child development activities • Get information about community resources

17. Parenting-focused Model Practitioner Child Parent

18. Triadic Interactions – Goal • Engage parent with child • Enjoyable interaction • Common activity • Daily routine • Toy/game/song • Task • Why? • Enhance child development • Increase parent’s enjoyment of child • Build communication foundations

19. Triadic Interactions – Tips • Talk to the parent • Directly • Through the child • Hand materials to the child • Draw parent into activity through the child • Pretend there is a glass wall between you and the parent

20. Why does this make me worry?

21. Parenting-focused Model • Respects parent as child’s teacher • Builds developmental parenting skills • Builds parent confidence in parenting • Helps parent use child development information • Helps parent keep parenting during a crisis • Establishes an enduring context for a child’s development

22. Parenting-focused Model • Requires more practitioner training and skills

23. Unpacking Home Visits

24. What is the Role of the Practitioners? ITDS & FDS

25. What is the Role of the Practitioner? • Support Child-Oriented Activity • Direct Teaching w/Child • Model for Parent • Coach Parent-Child Interaction • Support Adult Communication • Other

26. Role of the Practitioner-Overall vs. Parent- Child Triadic Interactions

27. ITDS Role - Mother’s Engagement

28. Developing Language & Literacy Connection • Start with positive adult-child relationship • Build language skills from the very beginning • Use language around children: describe, explain, introduce new words and activities • Incorporate language into play: describe, explain, introduce new words • Help parents understand that talking and language will help child develop school skills and have more job opportunities

29. Language and Literacy Environment • Include things for children to think and talk about • Make environment interesting • Have books available (for all ages) • Toys/materials that encourage children to interact with one another – helps develop language and social skills

30. Language and Literacy Environment • Use pictures • Photos of children engaged in home, neighborhood, or classroom activities (include labels) • Photos of conceptual words – group by concepts (color, size, shape, sound) • Combine photos with words for labels – make the labels meaningful • Use meaningful labels in rooms

31. Language and Literacy Interaction • Children learn language/literacy best during interactions that include support and feedback • Ask open-ended questions • Use new vocabulary words • Use descriptive words (including feeling words)

32. Language and Literacy Interaction • Have conversations with children • Talk about what interests them • Help keep a conversation going for more than one turn • Wait – give children time to respond • Make talking part of typical routines • Describe what you are doing and why

33. Language and Literacy Interaction • Sing with children – especially babies • Repeat nursery rhymes • Tell stories related to children’s culture – invite others in to tell stories • Invite people in to read with children • Combine stories with actions – add motor element to language and literacy

34. Selecting Books for Young Children • Books should: • Interest children (familiar routines, about things they like: trucks, animals, etc) • Have simple & engaging stories (plots) • Have bright colors & sharp contrast • Have big print • Rhythmic writing: use repeated phrases, rhyme, use familiar phrases • Be sturdy (board/bath books for babies; hardcover books for toddlers)

35. Selecting Books for Young Children • Books can help children • Develop cognitive skills – talk about their world, teach new information • Develop motor skills – holding books, turning pages • Develop social skills – read about how to get along with people, solve relationship problems • Develop a love of books – are fun, give them a chance to spend time with a favorite adult

36. Reading with Children • Read at a slower pace with children • Read with expression (different voices for different characters) • Hold the book so children can see pictures • Ask questions while reading (open ended questions, predict story)

37. Reading with Children • Point to words as read, talk about words/letters • Go beyond the text (talk the story) • Read books without words or without story line and make up your own (e.g., Good Dog Carl, Richard Scary books)

38. Reading with Children • Read favorite books over and over • Read books related to classroom themes & activities (read about apples during fall, about children and naptime, etc) • Let children act out parts of the story

39. Facilitating Parents’ Reading With Their Children • Help them plan a time for reading & set up to be relaxed • Make short reading sessions routine • E.g., at bedtime, after lunch, when Daddy gets home from work, with grandma • Bring books to make waiting easier (e.g., doctors’ office)

40. Facilitating Parents’ Reading With Their Children • Help parents go beyond just reading the text • Model appropriate reading for them • Pace, voice inflection, asking questions, commenting • Send home books and tips for reading • Give ideas for including literacy in everyday activities at home (e.g., let child “write” as parent makes shopping list)

41. Facilitating Parents’ Reading With Their Children • Encourage use of the local library • Find out the library hours • Hold group events at the library & in conjunction with story time if possible • Show parents how to use library if needed

42. Learning About Family Routines • Community map • Routines-based interview (McWilliam, 2000)

43. References • Axtmann, A., & Dettwiller, A. (2005). The visit: Observation, reflection, synthesis for training and relationship building. Baltimore: Brookes. • Kaiser, A. P. & Hancock, T. B. (2003). Teaching parents new skills to support their young children’s development. Infants and Young Children, 16, 9-21. • Klass, C. S. (2008). The home visitor’s guidebook: Promoting optimal parent & child development. Baltimore: Brookes. • Rush, D. D., Sheldon, M. L. & Hanft, B. E. (2003). Coaching families and colleagues: A process for collaboration in natural settings. Infants and Young Children, 16, 33-47. • Roggman, L. A., Boyce, L. K., Innocenti, M. S. (2008). Developmental parenting: A guide for early childhood practitioners. Baltimore: Brookes.