What Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction —
Abstract of

Chapter 3
Home and School Together: Helping Beginning Readers Succeed

Jeanne R. Paratore

Research regarding parents' roles in children's literacy learning suggests three conclusions:

• Home storybook reading is important to early literacy success.

• Although mainstream literacy practices (such as storybook reading) may be absent in many homes, other language and literacy practices exist in children's lives but are frequently not built upon by teachers.

• Issues of language, culture, and class influence children's and parents' literacy use and understanding and expectations of formal education.

The author explores cultural and linguistic differences among families and their effects on literacy practice and expectations, and describes successful family and intergenerational programs that have brought home and school literacies more closely together.

Paratore, J.R. (2002). Home and School Together: Helping Beginning Readers Succeed. In A.E. Farstrup, & S. Samuels (Eds.), What Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction (pp. 48-68). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.