In this Issue:
Family Literacy: Tapping into the Power of the Family

Singing, Storytelling, Writing...It's all Family Literacy! Family Literacy Contacts Parent Stories: Bridges Between Home and School Some Good Questions for Eliciting Parent Stories Children's Writing Begins Early...and Parents Can Help Family Literacy Through a Parent's Eyes Getting Parents Involved How to Increase Parent Involvement Service-Learning and Family Literacy Building a Sustainable Program: Lake County, Florida, Seniors for Schools The LEARNS Bookshelf: Books for Children and Young Adults Family Literacy Web Sites Create a Family Literacy Tree Special Supplement: Developmental Considerations in Selecting Books for Children

What is your earliest memory of reading? Do you remember being read to by your mother, father or an older sibling? Did you long to hear stories of times "long past" told with enthusiasm and passion by a grandparent, aunt, or uncle? Did your mother or father sing songs while doing household chores? Were you encouraged to create and tell stories of your own?

For most children, the first experiences with reading and writing are in the home. No matter what their education level, native language, or culture, parents are generally regarded as a child's first and most important teachers.

Numerous studies attest to the importance of reading to and with young children. What are the benefits? Children who are read to, and who grow up in homes rich in literacy activities (like reading, writing, storytelling, singing, and lively conversation) are more likely to value and develop a love of reading. Not only that, children raised in literacy-rich environments often become successful readers and writers.

What is Family Literacy?

So what is this thing called "family literacy"? Oftentimes, family literacy is described as family illiteracy-as programs and practitioners often focus on the low literacy levels (or deficiencies) of adult caregivers and/or their children. In a more positive interpretation-the one we choose-family literacy includes the many different ways families engage in reading and writing: writing grocery lists and letters; reading newspapers and magazines; telling family histories and bedtime stories; and teaching about one's culture. Everyday activities such as looking through the telephone book, writing phone messages, doing crossword puzzles, reading signs from the highway, playing word games, or even doing homework are all ways in which families use reading to support each other's literacy development.

Family literacy focuses on and works with not only the child, but with the entire family. By providing activities that encourage reading and writing by adults and children, family literacy programs recognize and affirm parents' roles as teachers.

What Does Family Literacy Look Like?

Generally, family literacy programs contain some key components: early childhood education activities, adult literacy or parent education, parent-child interaction, and groups or workshops for parents to exchange ideas and talk about parenting issues.

Early childhood activities focus on basic concepts such as learning shapes, letters and numbers; developing social skills like sharing and listening; and physical education to promote fine and gross motor skills (writing, cutting, drawing, and running and jumping-respectively).

Family literacy programs recognize and strengthen the different education and literacy levels of parents and caregivers. In order to meet these needs, some programs provide services such as career guidance, job shadowing/job readiness skill development, childcare, transportation assistance, GED/diploma classes, college prep classes, vocational training, and referrals for other social services.

Parent groups and workshops allow parents to feel that they are not alone. Parents have the opportunity to openly discuss child-rearing frustrations and brainstorm solutions. Workshops may also help parents develop skills to work with school systems and administrators and empower them to support each other.

Why is Family Literacy Important?

There are few things children appreciate more than having their parents read to them. But what happens if parents are unable read to their children? They (adult and child) will miss out on an enriching and valuable experience. Reading to a child provides a positive occasion for children, and gives parents the chance to act as teachers and role models for their kids. By reading to a child, parents demonstrate that life-long learning is of primary importance.

By creating a family literacy program, not only are reading and writing encouraged in the home, but parents are more likely to extend their own education. The programs actually connect the literacy of an adult with the literacy of a child. Education experts have long recognized that one of the greatest indicators of a child's academic success is the parent's educational achievement. For example, a survey of several dozen family literacy programs by Morrow, Tracy and Maxwell, found that, "results ranged from positive attitude changes to follow-up reports of children's success in school, to increased parental participation in school related events."

Including parents in their child's academic life is a critical part of promoting family literacy. While many National Service programs often work in communities where some parents may not have had positive experiences in education, members are able to foster positive literacy experiences for parents and children alike. By creating opportunities for parents to act as teachers and learners, National Service programs help strengthen a sense of community and family.

There are also other benefits of initiating a family literacy program in the context of your work with children. It strengthens the family network. Writing a simple task, for example, promotes communication between family members. In some family literacy programs, computers are placed in homes. Parents who are learning computer skills for a possible job can practice with their children, creating a fun environment in which both child and parent are learning. Once small steps have been made in learning, self-esteem increases on the part of parents and children, reason in itself to have a family literacy program.

Literacy is a civil and a human right. Every person is entitled to literacy and education. As Jim O'Brien of the Head Start Bureau says, "Functional literacy skills do not guarantee economic self-sufficiency or full participation in one's community; however, without these skills such accomplishments are nearly impossible."

As educators and literacy advocates, it is our job to respect the diversity of ALL families; we must understand the language, culture, and community, realize that each family has unique needs, challenges, and assets, and use those assets to improve the literacy skills of the whole family. Effective family literacy programs encourage the families they hope to serve to take an active role in program planning, development, and implementation. By hearing and respecting the voices of all families, programs can tailor their efforts to meet the specific needs of the families and communities they serve.

A child's primary context is within the family and, secondarily, within public institutions such as the school. Entering the child's world and understanding the personal and cultural relevance of literacy experiences of each child can only help further a reading tutor's goals with that child. The tutor should also connect with the literacy traditions of the child's family and teacher in order to make a significant contribution to the child's development as a reader.

Parent stories can serve as one common mechanism for teachers to draw on when they seek to involve parents in their child's education. Parent stories are narratives gained from open-ended interviews. In these interviews with the tutor or teacher, parents respond to questions designed to provide information about traditional and nontraditional early literacy activities and experiences that have happened in the home. These stories are significant because of their ability to connect the efforts and environments of both home and school to support a child's learning.

Many parents have vivid memories of their child's early development; specific interactions they had with their child; observations of their child's beginning learning efforts; way(s) in which their children learned; perceptions as to whether their occupation determined how they raised their children; and descriptions of things about their children that may not be obvious to the teacher but would help their children's performance if the teacher knew. Parents can select anecdotes and personal observations to give tutors access to complicated social, emotional and educational issues that can help to unravel for teachers and tutors the mystery around their students' early literacy beginnings.

Through the telling of these stories parents are recognized (whether they are literate or not) as "experts" in describing and interpreting methods and codes used in their home literacy environment which may be invisible to teachers. If students are to be served well by their teachers, then teachers must have more information than what current student records allow, and parents must be given more credibility and power regarding the information they can give teachers and tutors.

Parent stories reflect the realities of many school children that grow up in what is typically described as "at-risk environments;" these realities must be confronted and dealt with.

Teachers and tutors may feel that they have minimum control over what happens in the home and virtually no specialized training to uncloset parent stories. They may also feel that they are crossing the boundaries of families' right to privacy if they attempt to talk with parents about the home environments of students.

There must be explicit understanding between the teacher and parents about how these records can be used, and teachers and parents must agree that the information parents provide will be used for the benefit of students.

Society must begin to really listen to all parent voices and value their information about their children without prejudice, judgment, or apathy. This will help us embrace the multiplicity of experiences that parents have and can bring to the education of their children. n

Patricia Edwards is a professor of teacher education at Michigan State University. She was the keynote speaker at the first America Reads training in Philadelphia in April, 1998.

"Dear Mom, Buy me a puppy. Tomorrow. Love, Eli." I don't recall what I was doing when my four-year-old son interrupted me to read aloud this, his first "letter." I do remember that he read it with great, dramatic emphasis, pointing to each "word" with authority. And I'm sure that I dropped whatever task I was engaged in to delight in his first exploration as a writer.

You may be puzzling over that description. How could he be a writer if there were no real letters except his name? Eli put pencil to paper with real intention to communicate an authentic message. He knew from past experience that I take messages in print seriously. This is why anyone writes: to communicate an authentic message.

All his life, Eli watched me work with print. I write shopping lists, take phone messages, leave notes for my husband on the bathroom mirror. I give my attention to the mail, the newspaper, and books. I have read to Eli and his brother all their lives and we frequently visit our local library. Eli was doing the work of young children: he was imitating an important adult in his life. Children learn about the world around them through make-believe and imitation. When they try on policeman's hats, hard hats, or an old purse, they are trying on the identities of people around them.

As parents and tutors, a big part of our role is thinking about ways to increase literacy opportunities for children. I urge you to look no further than your children's active interest in your world. Here are some suggestions to encourage kids to write. These aren't designed to be "school-y," but rather to be a natural part of kids' everyday lives.

• Be sure kids see you write. Whenever you're writing a shopping list, or a birthday card, think out loud, so they can get a sense of how this writing thing works: "Let's see . . .we need milk . . ." write it down, ". . .Captain Crunch. . ." write it down.
• Let kids see that writing is essential to function in daily life. Make sure they see you reading cards, notices on school walls, schedules for buses or TV shows, and newspapers, etc.
• Create a "desk" for the child. This could be as simple as a shoebox, or as elaborate as an actual desk with containers for writing supplies. Stock the desk with writing materials (pens, novelty pencils, thin markers, colored pencils), with stationery, with a pad of lined paper, with blank books made from folded over and stapled pieces of blank paper. Use your imagination.
• Give older children reasons to write that grow from their experiences. When Eli was six he developed a severe case of the "gimmes." We didn't even have to go to a toy store: he was a walking commercial for all the toys he wanted. In exasperation, I hit on a solution: we began a wish list. Every time Eli thought of another item he"needed," he added it to his list. By now he was no longer "scribble writing," but using "invented" or "phonetic" spelling. Items like "chrsfrmrs" (transformers) and "lgoz" (Lego's) were on his list. He stopped demanding and he started writing—frequently.

In case you're wondering, Eli, who is seven-and-a-half years old now, still hasn't gotten his puppy. But he certainly got my attention. I welcomed him into the world of writing, and he's been a joyful participant ever since.

Elise Goldman facilitates LEARNS Partners' literacy trainings for America Reads programs and is a staff developer for Project New Beginnings at Bank Street College of Education.

Despite differences in economic, cultural, or linguistic background, everyone has experiences with family literacy. This simple truth became most evident when we asked parents at a recent America Reads training in Mississippi about family literacy. For example, one mother explained that when cooking with her kids each child plays a part in the dinner. While one child is cleaning the lettuce, another is measuring vinegar, and still another is setting the table. The whole time they are cooking Mom is reading the recipe for instructions on what to do next. "That's family literacy, isn't it?" she asked.

Another man's first memory of reading in his family was with his grandmother singing him church songs. "Is that literacy?" he asked.

Yes! Both of these are good examples of literacy. There are so many day to day activities in a home that enhance literacy. By just talking with children or playing games in the car, parents and other family members contribute to children's language development.

In the Mississippi Delta, families play a big part in literacy. Recently, LEARNS partners led a training in Cleveland, Mississippi where I met members of the Delta Service Corps, Delta Reads, and America Reads programs. The goal of theses projects is to create life long learners. Members's excitement about literacy and their dedication to communities and education was overwhelming.

We asked them to describe the key players who taught them to read, as well as activities in their homes that promote literacy. The response was inspiring. Many of the members, who are parents, realized the magnitude of their role as "teachers" for their own children. They saw that they are modeling positive attitudes towards reading. Below members describe their experiences with family literacy.

Remembering Family Literacy Experiences

Viola Taylor- I learned to read with my parents and other family members reading the newspaper, children's books and comic books to me. I would try to read billboards whenever we traveled. Reading was all around me growing up.

Keith Townsend - The first time I ever heard someone read was my sister. As a child she would always read me books and later on she began to teach me to pronounce the words. Living in a family of ten, reading was very important in my home, not just for education but for entertainment too.

Sharone M. Coleman - Literacy plays a very important role in my household, especially since my son was born. He loves books and always wants his Mom and Dad to read to him.

What Is Family Literacy? Examples of Activities in the Home

Caprina Bell - As the oldest of five children, I always read to the younger ones. Now that we have all learned how to read, we don't just help ourselves.

Ethel Jamison Johnson - In my home we read The Holy Bible, newspapers, magazines, and other books. We love to read. I started my children reading at an early age.

Nellie Martin - We read to our grandchildren and tell them stories. It keeps them interested in books and finding information.

Ripple Effects of Family Literacy

Cathy Moore - I tell my children the importance of reading like my mother told me. I tell them how slaves were not allowed to read and had to steal away just to teach each other to read. We no longer have to do that. I tell them to read all their eyes can see, grasp the concept of the words. I read to them and they read to me. When you learn to read and read to learn there is nothing you can't accomplish. Knowledge is in the words.

Family Literacy Affects Adults

Keith Townsend - I am currently attending night classes at the local college and numerous training workshops. It's been said, "The thing that makes a great teacher is that he/she is always learning new things to teach."

Myra B. Thomas - I am enrolling at Delta State this spring. I attend all workshops that I need to help me improve my reading skills. I use my planning time to visit the library to get books that I can bring back to the classroom to read at story-time.

Latisha Beckworth - Learning is an ongoing process. Every time a child learns, so do I. My comprehension level has increased because I have to comprehend material in order to help the children.

Whether your program focus is early childhood literacy, middle level, or secondary school education, parent involvement is critical. Connecting with parents allows programs to better meet the needs of students and the community. But how do you get parents' support and engage them in your program?

"The first thing it takes is personal communication," says Janet Mason, Director of the University of South Carolina-AmeriCorps program. "Parents need more than just letters sent home-especially if you work with poor or disfranchised communities."

While assistant principal at Lindbergh Middle School in Long Beach, California, Mason worked with approximately 1400 students, representing more than 17 languages. Mason's school provided translators during meetings to keep all parents abreast of important information and to allow them to have a voice in voting on key issues in the school.

Mason also stresses the importance of parents taking an active role in any program involving their children. "It really empowers parents when you say to them, 'I need your help.'"

Hope Wallace, in New Haven, Connecticut, agrees. As parent coordinator for LEAP (Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership), it is her job to reach out to and involve parents in the program. In the past year, LEAP, an organization that serves children ages seven to fourteen living in urban areas of Connecticut, conducted a survey of parents' attitudes and interests. "The parents were eager to get involved to empower themselves and to become change agents and advocates for their children," she says.

Following the survey, LEAP, which utilizes AmeriCorps members as junior and senior counselors for younger students, started weekly workshops for parents in New Haven. Some sessions focus on the politics of the school system, while others may center on leadership development. Parents meet every Thursday and graduate after eight weeks. Other LEAP sites hold monthly meetings to update parents on their child's progress.

While responses to the parents' activities have been positive, actually attracting parents hasn't been easy. "It's a great task to pull parents out of their homes or jobs to be involved [in the program]," Wallace remarks.

As a result, LEAP provides incentives for parents to participate. Parents who complete the eight-week program participate in a graduation ceremony, and even took a field trip to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, in New York City. Enthusiasm among the first group of graduates who completed the program in 1998 was so high that the parents chose to continue with further parent advocacy training.

How to Increase Parent Involvement

Start early. Involve parents in the decision-making process from day one. Allow parents to take leadership roles. Establish a core group of parents who can reach out to or train others. Make meeting times convenient for parents, whether in the evenings after work or on Saturday mornings. Appoint a parent liaison - someone on the school campus or in the community who will serve as the main contact for parents. Show respect to all parents, regardless of socio-economic class, education, race, or culture. Provide translators for parents who speak other languages. Produce written materials in the languages represented in your school(s) or area. Use videotapes, cassette tapes, and/or home visits to reach parents who may experience challenges with literacy. Reward parental involvement! T-shirts, pins, and ceremonies are always good! Offer refreshments/healthy snacks or a light meal during meetings. Provide transportation assistance if needed. Keep the lines of communication open. Be willing to listen to parent!

Effective service-learning strives for both positive outcomes for community members and quality learning for program participants. Each reinforces the other: relevant and constructive preparation and reflection activities for participants can help maximize benefits for the community, while such positive outcomes reinforce meaningful learning for participants and keep them coming back. This is certainly true in tutoring relationships. Since involving the student's family in the learning process will likely increase tutoring effectiveness, tutor preparation and reflection should include a focus on the role of the student's family.

The following points and questions may help programs plan tutor preparation and reflection, taking family issues into account:

• Winning the respect of parents and guardians for the tutoring program will depend on the program showing respect for the culture and circumstances of all involved.
• Such a tutoring program nevertheless always keeps the child's education in the forefront of program planning and implementation.
• Being "family friendly" is essential for an effective tutoring program. Parents and guardians must feel welcome and supported if they are to be supportive.
• Children pay attention to the program's interactions with their parents or guardians.
• Tutoring programs often bring together people from different classes and cultures. Tutors need to become as aware as possible, starting with preparation activities prior to meeting the children, of the pressures and circumstances of the children's households and communities. Time availability-to read with children as well as to meet with teachers and tutors-varies considerably across classes. The very meaning of "time"-what it means to "spend time" or to be "on time"-differs across cultures. We all need accountability on our commitments, but the same words may have different meanings to people with very different backgrounds and experiences.
• Tutors and program administrators should respect any skepticism that they encounter and develop ways to encourage parents and guardians to trust that tutoring can yield real learning even when conducted outside of school without a fully-licensed teacher.
• What does it mean to be a parent or guardian in different class and cultural contexts? Programs that have tutors who are parents may find it helpful to have them share experiences with tutors who are not parents.
• Calling parents or guardians to a "meeting" or "appointment" can prove challenging. These two words may themselves seem threatening rather than inviting to some. It may be helpful, especially initially, to meet in a familiar place in the community, such as a church or neighborhood library, rather than on an unfamiliar college campus or even, in some cases, the children's school. The initial meeting should perhaps include explicit discussion of the relationship between school and family.
• Demonstrated tutor engagement-commitment to regular tutoring sessions for at least a semester-is crucial to winning parent or guardian support and involvement.
• Tutors need to be ready to address challenges presented by dialects spoken in the children's homes that may be unfamiliar to them. Tutors need to develop skills to promote children's ability to read standard English effectively without attacking, belittling, or challenging their culture and traditions.
• When the children's first language is not English, tutors need to respect the tension between helping them to have a broader range of opportunities by mastering English and maintaining their cultural traditions.
• If tutors find themselves in situations where they want to ask the children to translate in a conversation with parents or guardians whose English mastery is poor or nonexistent, it is especially crucial to support the children as active, conscious participants in the conversation.

This list of issues and ideas is not exhaustive. We intend it to suggest some of the kinds of concerns that tutor preparation and ongoing reflection should address in order to make the program effective for both tutors and their students.

Andrae England is a coordinator for the Texas Center for Service-Learning at the University of Texas in Austin. Bob Seidel is a service-learning specialist in the Office of Training and Technical Assistance at the Corporation for National and Community Service in Washington, DC.

Although Lake County, Florida, located in the heart of the state and of the citrus industry, is a rural county, it is one of the fastest growing counties in the state. This recent population explosion has the county school system clamoring to keep up; three new elementary schools are being built next year to relieve the burden of 13,000 children crowding into nineteen elementary schools. As this overcrowding and teacher shortages threaten to diminish the reading foundations of the county's children, a group of fifty-two devoted senior volunteers are stepping in to offer their skills, knowledge, and time to fill that gap.

These volunteers are a part of the Lake County (Leesburg) Seniors for Schools project. The project is part of a nine-project demonstration program, called Seniors for Schools, that enlists the services of men and women over the age of 55 to serve in teams and make a significant contribution to help children learn to read. This project is an integral component of President Clinton's "America Reads Challenge," working to ensure that every child can read well and independently by the end of the third grade. The eight other Seniors for Schools projects are in Boston, Massachusetts; Cleveland, Ohio; Kansas City, Missouri; Minneapolis, Minnesota; New York, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Port Arthur, Texas; and Portland, Oregon.1

The Lake County project, which is expanding from three to six Title I schools this year, is unique among its Seniors for Schools counterparts in several ways. With Lake County's population standing at 180,160 residents, it is the only Seniors for School project that serves a rural county rather than a large metropolitan area. It is also the only project that recruits its volunteers from a population that is predominantly senior and retired. Lake County ranks eighth among Florida's sixty-seven counties in senior population with about 30 percent of the county residents age sixty-five or older.

These unique traits propose both challenges and benefits to the volunteer project. Lake County Seniors for Schools project director John Fuller and his staff and volunteers are implementing their efforts in strategic ways to highlight the county's strengths to produce a successful, efficient tutoring project that will be sustainable even beyond its brief federal funding.

Recognition and Visibility

One step toward this sustainability, Fuller believes, begins with recognition for the volunteers' efforts. This recognition not only strengthens volunteer morale, but also offers heightened visibility to the project. The project has received a good deal of county-wide visibility by persuading the four local television stations to produce and run short segments about volunteers and the project on their stations. This free advertising for the project, helps people in the community-potential volunteers-become aware of the project and the opportunities for them to serve. This awareness eases recruiting, building up a large, qualified body of volunteers to power the project.

The senior volunteers are currently developing a recognition system that will function within the school walls as well. The schools currently invite volunteers and project staff to celebrate with them at holiday parties and other school events. Fuller would like to increase and institutionalize that in-school recognition to the point that the project is seen as an extension of the school. They are working with school system administrators to have information on the project included in system brochures and literature. The positive feedback that they are receiving from teachers will help them in this effort. As Triangle Elementary School VISTA Ken Cedarland, a one-and-a-half year veteran of the Lake County project, is collecting the teacher reports in Dora, Florida he is being encouraged. "All of the evaluations are right at the top. It really shows that we are appreciated," he reports.

Training and Leadership

So far, the project has successed in integrating the volunteers into the schools' teacher trainings. Fuller explains, "Principals and staff have embraced the idea of having trained tutors enter their schools, especially with the addition of a VISTA person to coordinate the entire program." When a new program of reading instruction was introduced in several schools, these schools invited the tutors to be trained along with the teachers in that method. Over 80 percent of the tutors received this training. "What we see developing is a desire on the teachers' part to have the tutors trained in ways that will be highly effective for their students and their schools. It fits the tutors to the needs of the teacher and builds a stronger bond between our program and the schools," reports Fuller.

Another goal in the Seniors' effort to create a sustainable project is to develop the leadership within the schools to maintain the program's structure even without the VISTA Members management. Currently, four VISTAs are working in the six schools; two VISTAS work in two schools. The VISTAs are the coordinators for their schools. They act as volunteer leaders, recruit, train, and place the volunteers, maintain the records, test the students, schedule tutoring sessions, and maintain a smooth running program among school staff, students, and tutors. Currently, the schools now are asked only to gather data and survey information on the needs of the school and the effects of the program.

Sustainability

The VISTAs will identify someone-a school staff person, teacher's aide, or volunteer with strong leadership potential-to eventually fulfill the role of the VISTAs. This is part of the leadership transitioning process required for sustainability. As the schools see the value and effectiveness of the project and the volunteers, they will be more willing and ready to provide a person to fulfill the VISTA's duties, thereby continuing the work even beyond federal grant periods. The school staff is already recognizing the benefits of the volunteers' presence. Ruth Eppert, one of the first Seniors for Schools volunteers, moved from Eustis Elementary to Beverly Shores Elementary this year. "After you have been at the schools a while, the teachers and principals really begin to appreciate you. You get to know everybody and become friends. At Eustis Elementary, they didn't want to see me leave," she explains.

The VISTAs are in the school at least a few days each week right now but, as the program becomes a more self-sufficient part of the school, they will work at the individual schools less and less until the school can run the program itself.

Funding is always an issue when talking about the sustainability of a project. Fuller is meeting that issue head on by getting involved with the Lake County Coalition of Grant Writers.

Representatives from local libraries, school systems, and other non-profit organizations have developed this group as a structure through which they can target potential grants and funders and provide support to each other as they pursue those funds. This unified and structured effort is important in a rural county like Lake County since there are no large industries and companies to which they can apply for funding. They depend largely on individual donations and the efforts of strategic organizations such as the Coalition of Grant Writers.

Work in a Rural Community

The Leesburg Seniors for Schools project is unique among the nine projects in that Leesburg is not its focal point of operation. "Although the project is called Leesburg Seniors for Schools, Leesburg is only one of the locations in which we work," explains Fuller. "We like to think of this as a county project since we are trying to make an impact in the schools of the entire county and not be limited to one small city." Being stretched throughout the large rural Lake County area provides a challenge because of the absence of a centralized framework in which to provide the tutoring services. Rather than one large metropolitan school system within which to work, Lake County numerous small towns. As Fuller explains, "Being scattered in these various towns makes it difficult because there is less ownership of the work."

The Lake County project has responded to this challenge by devising a recruiting plan in cluster areas around the schools. They focus their recruiting efforts for each school to the area around that school. This strategic recruiting also applies to VISTA selection. By recruiting and selecting volunteers who live in the communities surrounding the schools, the project is, again, increasing its sustainability. If serving at the schools is convenient and if the seniors view the students and schools as a part of their own community, they are more likely to continue their efforts year after year.

In a county with such a large percentage of seniors like Lake County, nurturing the involvement of its older citizens is a double bonus. Not only are we providing successful, skilled tutors to fill in the gaps of crowded schools, but we are also keeps a group that may not have personal connections to the local school systems informed, aware, and involved. "We are building advocates for education," Fuller asserts."They see how tough it is for teachers and kids. They buy into it and want the schools to be better and be better supported. It provides more support for the schools when issues come up-like on the ballot." n

1 For articles on other Seniors for Schools projects, see the following issues of The TUTOR: Port Arthur, TX (June 1997); Philadelphia, PA (September 1997); New York, NY (Winter 1997); Portland, OR (Spring 1998); Kansas City, MO (Summer 1998); and Cleveland, OH (October 1998). The remaining two projects will be profiled in coming issues of The TUTOR.

When looking for children's books about families, it's important to understand that every child's situation is unique. Books can be reflective of your audience, and they can present new situations to broaden the experiences of your audience, too. As you choose books, you may want to consider these questions: What exactly is a "family"? Is blood relation necessary? Do you need to live together to be considered a family? How do families differ among cultures? Has the concept of family changed over the years?

To help you in your search, we have selected a few books that reflect some of the diversity among today's American families.

• In Boundless Grace, (Dial, 1995, ISBN 0-8037-1715-6, ages 4-8), the sequel to Amazing Grace, Grace, accompanied by her grandmother, Nana, travels to The Gambia, West Africa, to visit the father that she barely remembers. Her father not only has a new wife, but also two other children. The story follows Grace as she struggles to find her place in these two families. Ultimately, she learns love abounds, even in divided families.
• From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun (Scholastic, 1995, ISBN 0-590-45880-9, Young Adult) by Jacqueline Woodson centers on a 13-year-old teenage boy faced with his mother's new love: a white female lawyer. Written in the form of a journal, Melanin's honest and angry prose exposes his on-going dilemma with his mother's sexuality, his attitudes towards race and dating, and his concept of himself.
• On a lighter note, in Amelia Bedelia's Family Album by Peggy Parish (Greenwillow, 1988, ISBN 0-688-07677-7, ages 4-8) Amelia entertains her employers, the Rogers, by getting out her family album and describing what her relatives do. Most of her relatives are a little zany, like her Cousin Chester the printer who never learned how to write! After reading the book, try creating your own family album, and include unique habits of your own kin.
• In Gary Paulsen's Haymeadow (Dell, 1994 ISBN 0-440-40923-3, ages 9-12) 14-year-old John Baron is sent by his father to drive 6,000 sheep from their Wyoming ranch up to the haymeadow in the mountains. With the regular farmhand sick from cancer, John has little to go on, with only two horses and four dogs to help during his three-month journey. Although alone, he learns about his father, his grandfather and himself.
• Another look at single parent families can be seen in George Ella Lyon's Mama Is A Miner (Orchard, 1994, ISBN 0-531-06853-6, ages 4-8). Mama works in a coalmine deep in the Appalachian Mountains. As the daughter narrates, we see her mother's grueling and dangerous work underground, which is contrasted by the order and cleanliness of the family's dinner table. While working, Mama thinks of her home, while her daughter imagines what Mama is doing beneath the earth's surface.
• Working Cotton (Harcourt, 1992, ISBN 0-15-299624-9,ages 4-8) by Shirley Anne Williams also focuses on working. But this time the entire family is working, picking cotton. Young Shelan, daughter of two migrant farmworkers, describes a day of picking cotton with her family. The story illustrates the family's exhaustion at the end of a long work day and Shelan's isolation-the children she meets are here one day, gone the next.
• Going Home (Harper Trophy, 1998, ISBN, 0064435091, ages 4-8) by Eve Bunting presents another picture of a migrant family. Young Carlos and his sisters, though born in Mexico, consider California their home. When the family goes to Mexico for Christmas, Carlos comes to understand his parents' love for their homeland and how much they have sacrificed to make a better life for them all.

If you're searching for young adult novels, here are a few suggestions.

• The Pinballs, by Betsy Byars (HarperCollins, 1977, ISBN 0-06-020917-8, ages 9-12) depicts three unwanted kids called the Pinballs. The children-complete strangers to each other-wind up in the same foster home and over time learn to care about themselves and trust each other.
• Toning the Sweep (Orchard Books, 1993, ISBN 0531054764, Young Adult) by Angela Johnson, is a coming-of-age story about an African-American teenager, Emily, who learns her grandmother, Ola, has cancer. Emily and her mother travel to Ola's house in the desert to help her pack her belongings and move her to Cleveland, with the family. Told from Emily's point of view, the novel focuses on the distant relationship between her mother and grandmother, her grandfather's tragic death, and how the family copes with Ola's illness.

Students enjoy reading books that enlarge their world. Many extended activities can follow: drawing a family tree, interviewing family members, or writing one's own story. If you have favorite stories about diverse families, please share them with us at our toll free number: 1-8-SRC-LEARNS (877-253-2767).

Relevant information for family literacy-tips and strategies, background information, activities—is provided in the following websites.

• LiteracyLink
  PBS designed this site, LiteracyLink, for adult education programs. LiteracyLink provides lesson modules for adults taking the GED, assessment tools, and training resources. These resources are useful for students and program coordinators. Many helpful links are listed including websites for English Language Learners, tutoring, correctional facility education, family literacy and professional development.
• Houghton Mifflin's Education Place
  Houghton Mifflin's Education Place website includes a Kids' Clubhouse, a Teachers' Center, and a Parents' Place. Each link has educational games, activities, tips and lesson plans. This site gives students the opportunity to publish their writing on the web through book reviews and stories.
• National Adult Literacy Database
  The National Adult Literacy Database offers over sixty links to a wide variety of family literacy topics and programs. You will find resources ranging from program design to choosing children's books to fun activities for students. This website provides one of the more comprehensive lists of sites in the United States and Canada, including different agencies involved in family literacy.
• Family Education Network
  The Family Education Network hosts a site that is loaded with fun activities focused on children of all ages and their parents but is useful to teachers and tutors. Of the activities, my favorites are the quizzes, designed to educate the reader. Also, forums for discussing many issues related to education give participants a chance to exchange ideas and opinions.
• American Library Association
  The American Library Association provides documents with information on various facets of designing a family literacy program including recruiting volunteers, building partnerships with the community, and other elements that make a strong program.
• U.S.D.E. Publication for Parents
  The U.S. Department of Education designed these publications as a resource for parents helping their children with schoolwork, and dealing with concerns related to their children's education. Spanish editions of some of the publications are available.
• National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition and Language Instruction Educational Programs (NCELA)
  The NCELA, operated by George Washington University, has wonderful publications on community and parent involvement. The publications are geared to culturally diverse students and English language learners.