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Citation:

Ortiz, R. W. (2000). The many faces of learning to read: The role of fathers in helping their children to develop early literacy skills. Multicultural Perspectives, 2(2), 10-17.

Annotation:
This study examines a sample of Mexican American fathers and the reading experiences they share with their children. Findings showed that "parent-child literacy activities can be viewed as mutually beneficial to both the parent and the child: the child associates a pleasant bonding experience with reading, whereas the father becomes aware of his child's reading interests. This type of event may have more of a learning impact on teaching children basic literacy skills than if they were formally instructed within the classroom." Mexican American fathers of early elementary grade children from a large, urban school district in Southern California were selected for the study. Questionnaire interviews were used as the primary data collection approach. The researcher recommends that teachers consider the selection of reading materials and activities from the parents' perspective, consider the importance placed on early literacy development by the parents, seek both parents' input when developing family literacy programs, and consider the essential link between reading and writing activities and the home environment. Also, the author suggests several questions teachers may consider as a starting point in developing parent-training curricula. The significance of the study centers on a demographic group not frequently studied, Hispanic fathers.