Parents, students and teachers develop English language skills through the Latino Family Literacy Project.
By Nokware Knight
When Hamilton resident Devora Auceda first came to the United States from Guatemala years ago, she didn’t speak any English.
She always wanted to help her kids in school, but—intimidated by unfamiliarity with the language—she stayed quiet and understood very little during meetings with teachers. Thanks to a new program offered by elementary schools in the Hamilton Township School District, Auceda and others in similar situations have begun to feel more connected with their children’s education and with the community as a whole.
The 10-week program, called the Latino Family Literacy Project, started last fall and was developed in response to a growing Latino community in Hamilton. It was designed to improve English and Spanish language skills while helping establish a regular reading routine that improved child-parent interactions.
Teachers at Wilson Elementary School, where approximately one-third of students are Latino, said the program was a success in their building. Auceda, whose 11-year-old son Andrew attends Wilson School, also found it useful and said she has already told some of her friends about the program, hoping they might benefit.
Parents who participated in the program would come after school one day a week for two hours. Each week, the parents would bring home a new bilingual book, with each page written in both English and Spanish, to read together. They also put together an album that included photos with notes, a family tree and a letter from the parents to the children written in English. In the corners of each album photo, the family would write, in English, what was happening in the photo and what it meant to them.
Auceda said that through the program, he taught his mother “how you say the words in the book.” Auceda said she learned a lot from and enjoyed a number of things about the program.
But beyond language lessons and structured family time with her husband, two sons and daughter, she said the whole family benefitted from sharing stories and documenting moments they may not otherwise have. The album, for example, was the first place Andrew saw a picture of his grandmother, who is from Guatemala.
Wilson Elementary School principal Barbara Panfili said participants in the program varied in their familiarity with English. Some, particularly the children, were fluent. One third grade student, however, hadn’t spoke any English before she entered the first grade.
The larger goal however, Panfili said, was bigger than language. The school hoped to intertwine culture, heritage and family through an everyday shared experience, in and outside of school.
“And at the same time the bonus was learning how to read,” Panfili said.
Parents, she said, also introduced participating teachers to cultural customs they didn’t know existed.
Angela Borgia, one of three Wilson Elemetary teachers who participated in the program, said the initiative supported a regular reading routine that not only helped improve language skills but helped recognize the importance of the Latino culture.
“It really helped build relationships between teachers who worked in the program and parents and students,” Borgia said.
Kristen Spair, lead teacher for the program, said participation went from two to 10 families during the course largely because of word of mouth. And, as participants began to feel more comfortable amongst each other, their confidence grew.
“In the first few weeks, the parents were very hesitant to read,” Spair said.
Eventually, they began volunteering to read out loud. When putting together family photos, they began with pictures from disposable cameras but gradually started bringing old photos from home. Outside of school meetings, Spair said, parents learned not only to read with, but how to read to their kids.
“They really learned what questions to ask their children when they read to them at night,” she said. “It was really huge.”
A previously planned reunion in June for participants of the program has been postponed and may be canceled all together. But, due to the program’s success, the school district plans on continuing the program next year. Andrew, for one, says he’s looking forward to participating in the program again next year.
For anyone that would like to get ahead or start their own reading session at home, Panfili recommended three books: The Shark That Taught Me English by Michelle Markel, The Florence Family’s El Charro Café by Jane Stern, and A New Sun by Max Benavidez and Katherine DelMonte.
