TY - JOUR
T1 - An investigation of the perspectives of low-income Latina mothers with preschoolers transitioning to kindergarten
AU - Coba-Rodriguez, Sarai
AU - Jarrett, Robin L.
N1 - Funding Information:
Members of the Ethnographic Research Lab in the Department of Human and Community Development at UIUC contributed to the initial phase of this research project, including bibliographic searches, literature reviews, Spanish-English transcriptions and preliminary analyses. Azucena C Lopez assisted with the Spanish-English translations. Members of the Diverse Families & School Readiness Lab in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) also contributed to this project. Angelo Calero, Adriana Antunez and Rosa Mariscal assisted with literature reviews searched and reference editing. Heather McLeer provided editorial assistance. We gratefully acknowledge the enthusiastic involvement of our participants and Hazelwood Head Start, who made this study possible. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 600111793 000 793369, the University of Illinois Public Engagement Grant, and the University of Illinois Chancellor?s Public Engagement Grant. Sarai Coba-Rodriguez https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1779-3708 Supplemental material for this article is available online.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.
PY - 2022/3
Y1 - 2022/3
N2 - Research in the United States (U.S.) documents that young Latino children whose families are characterized by demographic risk factors disproportionately lack the early literacy skills needed to successfully transition to kindergarten. Quantitative studies using comparative samples have found lower quality home learning environments and lower scores on a child outcome assessments among Latino children compared to their Black and White peers. A small body of qualitative, non-comparative studies that focus on Latino families in their own right provides descriptive accounts of the positive ways that Latina mothers and other family members promote child literacy development, despite being characterized by demographic risk factors. However, the social address variables utilized in quantitative studies limit our understanding of the family processes affecting child literacy development, and most qualitative studies focus on older, school-aged children with very few studies focusing on the early transitional period before kindergarten, especially for Latinos. Addressing current gaps in the literature on preschool-aged children, we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews and photo-elicitation interviews with 17 low-income Latina mothers of Head Start preschoolers in a northern Chicago suburb in the U.S. Privileging mothers’ voices and experiences, we explored their in-home emergent literacy practices and the role of other family members in promoting children’s literacy development. Informed by a family resilience framework, we accessed intimate family worlds that reveal highly engaged and resilient parents. Specifically, we identified numerous child literacy skills that families supported through an array of family instructional practices and tools. We further identified the role of various available family members, particularly fathers and siblings. These findings add to substantive discussions of emergent literacy, resilience and familismo. Insights from the qualitative interviews lead to recommendations for how early childhood educators can capitalize on families’ funds of knowledge, and view them as valued collaborators.
AB - Research in the United States (U.S.) documents that young Latino children whose families are characterized by demographic risk factors disproportionately lack the early literacy skills needed to successfully transition to kindergarten. Quantitative studies using comparative samples have found lower quality home learning environments and lower scores on a child outcome assessments among Latino children compared to their Black and White peers. A small body of qualitative, non-comparative studies that focus on Latino families in their own right provides descriptive accounts of the positive ways that Latina mothers and other family members promote child literacy development, despite being characterized by demographic risk factors. However, the social address variables utilized in quantitative studies limit our understanding of the family processes affecting child literacy development, and most qualitative studies focus on older, school-aged children with very few studies focusing on the early transitional period before kindergarten, especially for Latinos. Addressing current gaps in the literature on preschool-aged children, we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews and photo-elicitation interviews with 17 low-income Latina mothers of Head Start preschoolers in a northern Chicago suburb in the U.S. Privileging mothers’ voices and experiences, we explored their in-home emergent literacy practices and the role of other family members in promoting children’s literacy development. Informed by a family resilience framework, we accessed intimate family worlds that reveal highly engaged and resilient parents. Specifically, we identified numerous child literacy skills that families supported through an array of family instructional practices and tools. We further identified the role of various available family members, particularly fathers and siblings. These findings add to substantive discussions of emergent literacy, resilience and familismo. Insights from the qualitative interviews lead to recommendations for how early childhood educators can capitalize on families’ funds of knowledge, and view them as valued collaborators.
KW - Emergent literacy
KW - Latino/Hispanic families
KW - family literacy
KW - low income
KW - qualitative research
KW - school readiness
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U2 - 10.1177/1468798420901822
DO - 10.1177/1468798420901822
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85078749250
SN - 1468-7984
VL - 22
SP - 31
EP - 65
JO - Journal of Early Childhood Literacy
JF - Journal of Early Childhood Literacy
IS - 1
ER -