Emergent Literacy and Childhood LiteracyPromoting Activities for Children in the Ontario Child Welfa

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Emergent Literacy and Childhood
Literacy-Promoting Activities for Children in the
Ontario Child Welfare System

• Shaye Moffat, Cynthia Vincent,
• and Robert Flynn
• CRECS, University of Ottawa, Canada

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Emergent Literacy

• The process of emerging literacy
• What is it?
• Importance of literacy
• How is it fostered?

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Our OnLAC Sample
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Our OnLAC sample

• 114 children living in out-of-home care in
  Ontario, Canada
• Between the ages of 1 and 4 years
• 46 female, 54 male
• All have faced some type of adversity in their
  biological homes resulting in their removal
• Completed an Assessment and Action Record during
  Year Six (June 2006 to May 2007) of the OnLAC
  Project

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Comparison Group

• National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth
  (NLSCY, Statistics Canada and Human Resources
  Development Canada)
• Cycle 1 (1994-1995)
• 4403 participants aged 1-4 years
• 49 female, 51 male

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Our Questions

• How often do you or your spouse read with ?
• How often does look at books, magazines,
  comics, etc. on his/her own?
• How often does play with pencils or markers
  doing pretend writing?

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The results
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The results (contd)
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What did we find?

• Children in out-of-home placements are being
  awarded with many opportunities to engage in
  literacy-promoting activities on a daily-basis

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Limitations to our findings

• OnLAC responses provided by caregivers in a
  conversational setting with social worker
• Small population for comparison
• Cross-sectional at this time

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How can we encourage emergent literacy?
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How can we encourage emergent literacy?

• Provide training for foster parents
• Demonstrate importance of high expectations and
  positive encouragement
• Encourage participation in literacy-enriching
  activities in the community
• Make use of libraries and bookmobiles
• Childrens Aid Societies can make links with
  libraries and book chains

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Encouraging Literacy (Contd)

• Engage in daily conversations about books, and
  make it part of your routine
• Encourage relatives and friends to give books as
  gifts
• Listen to books on tape, sing songs, and play
  games
• Ensure a steady stream of books are received in
  the foster home

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Encouraging Literacy (Contd)

• Start book/reading clubs
• Approach a book chain to sponsor an event
• Create a warm, comfortable learning environment
• Anything else????

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Contact us

• Shaye Moffat
• shaye.moffat_at_cbsa-asfc.gc.ca
• Cynthia Vincent
• cvincent_at_uottawa.ca
• Robert Flynn
• rflynn_at_uottawa.ca