A Family & Caregiver Guide to Supporting Pre-K-3rd Students Literacy Development

As a multilingual family your family has many strengths,family stories,and cultural practices. Research has shown that families should encourage their students to engage in and speak their native language at home. Your student’s first language can help develop their other language(s). Below are some things that you can do as a family and caregiver to partner with your student’s school to best support your student in their literacy journey. In this resource we will focus on engaging in observational and alphabetic literacy experiences at home. 

Observational Literacy VS. Alphabetic Literacy 

Observational Literacy are literacy experiences that are gained through experiences in the world such as “reading the world, visuals, images, experiences,situations, and environments. (Qarooni,2024).

Alphabetic Literacy are literacy experiences  gained through reading texts and determining meaning based on what you read. 

Examples of Observational Literacy & Alphabetic Literacy Experiences at Home 

It is encouraged for you to engage in experiences in your family's native language.

Observational Literacy Experiences 

• Grocery Shopping- Include your student in grocery shopping talk about what your buying and why, or why you choose certain ingredients/items 

• Celebrations-  Include and talk about any cultural holidays, and celebrations that your family practices  with your student. 

• Family Interviews- Family interactions are important. Support your student in interviewing various family members about their experiences, jobs, and favorite things to do.

Alphabetic Literacy Experiences  

• Picture Walk & Read Aloud-First have your student make predictions and inferences about what each page will be about based on the pictures(emergent/beginning reading). Then read the book to your student.

• Read Cultural & Holiday Books to your Student - Read cultural books to your student about your  family beliefs, traditions, and culture. You can also introduce your student to others beliefs, traditions and cultures. 

• Read Identity Affirming Books - Read books with characters that look like your student such as books that represent their race, and perspective . It is also encouraged that you read books with characters from other races and with different perspectives.

Key Terms 

• Prediction- A guess about what will happen in the future 

• Inference- An educated guess about what will happen in the present 

Sentence Stems -Sentence Stems are ways to help you talk about their thinking

• I infer that… I predict that…

 Early Intervention Support is Important:

When to Seek Out Literacy Intervention Support?

Every learner grows at their own pace, and targeted early support helps learners' literacy development. 

Pre-K

-If your learner  has challenges with using pictures to make meaning of the text in Pre-K or older.

-If your learner has challenges with making the sounds of most letters by the end of  Pre-K or older.

Kindergarten

-If your learner has challenges with rhyming, saying letter sounds, or  sounding out words in kindergarten or older(Hall, 2023).

-If your learner is not independently connecting words to meaning in kindergarten or older.

First Grade 

If your learner has challenges with rhyming, saying letter sounds, or  sounding out words in first grade or older 

(Hall, 2023).

-If your learner is not independently connecting words to meaning in kindergarten or older.

Second Grade 

-If your learner has slow or laboured reading and struggles to comprehend what they read in second grade or older (Hall, 2023).

Third Grade 

-If your learner has slow or laboured reading and struggles to comprehend what they read in third grade or older(Hall, 2023) 

Did You Know? 

“Strong, productive family partnerships in early learning have clear ties to long-term cognitive, academic, and social-emotional benefits for children”(Caldwell, 2019).

Sources 

Fletcher, L., & Holyoke, E. (2026). Becoming Changemakers: Utilizing the Five Pillars of Literacy to Empower Learners as Engaged Citizens. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.58680/la20261035291

Hall, S. (2023). Early signs of a reading difficulty. In www.readingrockets.org. https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/struggling-readers/articles/early-signs-reading-difficulty