Children, Parents, and Writing: Using Photography in a Family Literacy Workshop

From an early age, young children, when given the opportunity, demonstrate their interest and enthusiasm for writing. Toddlers spontaneously pick up pencils and crayons to make marks on paper, walls, and floors. Preschoolers' scribbles are indications of their growing understanding of how print...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:YC young children 2009-09, Vol.64 (5), p.28-33
Main Authors: Baskwill, Jane, Harkins, Mary Jane
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cameras
Child care
Children
Children & youth
Childrens literature
Childrens picture books
Childrens Writing
Emergent Literacy
Enthusiasm
Families & family life
Families and Teachers—Essential Partnerships
Family Literacy
Interaction
Literacy
Parent Child Relationship
Parent Participation
Parent Role
Parents
Parents & parenting
Parents as Teachers
Photography
Preschool children
Reading Instruction
Role Models
Teaching Methods
Vocabulary Development
Workshops
Writing Instruction
Young Children
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Summary:From an early age, young children, when given the opportunity, demonstrate their interest and enthusiasm for writing. Toddlers spontaneously pick up pencils and crayons to make marks on paper, walls, and floors. Preschoolers' scribbles are indications of their growing understanding of how print and story work. Their oral stories are often imaginative, enthusiastic explorations of words, characters, and plot growing out of their experiences. Parents who actively create a learning environment that supports and encourages writing stimulate children's interests in language and reading. Encouraging a young child's writing development promotes the child's positive self-image as a capable learner. The positive interaction between parent, child, and the child's writing attempts builds a foundation for future learning successes. Parents who encourage their children's writing let them know it is valued. Parents who write to and with their children become positive role models whom the children want to emulate. Such interaction can also contribute to positive parent/child bonding. Programmatic factors in family literacy projects can have a positive impact on family literacy practices. This article describes how using photography in a family literacy workshop helped parents better understand children's literacy development and shape their home literacy practices with their young children in light of their new understanding.
ISSN:1538-6619
1941-2002