Preschool Early Literacy Programs in Ontario Public Libraries
This paper reports on research examining how library staff in 10 Ontario libraries’ preschool literacy programs support three- and four-year-old children’s early literacy and school readiness as well as their parents’ and caregivers’ literacy interactions with their children. Multiple data sources i...
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The Partnership
2012-12-01
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doaj-2c5c29be60a44716a73b91c931079bd92020-11-24T21:30:09ZengThe PartnershipPartnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research1911-95932012-12-017210.21083/partnership.v7i2.19611288Preschool Early Literacy Programs in Ontario Public LibrariesShelley Stagg Peterson0Eunice Jang1Carol Jupiter2Maggie Dunlop3OISE/University of TorontoOISE/University of TorontoToronto District School BoardOISE/University of TorontoThis paper reports on research examining how library staff in 10 Ontario libraries’ preschool literacy programs support three- and four-year-old children’s early literacy and school readiness as well as their parents’ and caregivers’ literacy interactions with their children. Multiple data sources included surveys of 82 parents/caregivers, observations of a sample of 65 of the 198 children at the sessions we visited, and interviews with10 library staff. Observations were analyzed for evidence of children’s development of print motivation, phonological awareness, vocabulary, narrative skills, and print awareness: early literacy skills and knowledge that have been shown to be reliably and significantly correlated with future reading success. Analysis of the observational and interview data showed that the programs have been very successful in fostering children’s readiness to participate in school activities and their motivation to read. Participating children learned new vocabulary, demonstrated an awareness of rhymes and sounds of language, and showed an understanding of books that were read by library staff: all early literacy behaviours that are foundational to later literacy development. The programs have also provided parents/caregivers with new ways to interact with children to engage them with books and with print at home. The development of children’s school readiness skills and parents’ awareness of how to support their children’s literacy are outcomes extending beyond library staff goals for their library programs and should be included in literature advertising the programs. Print awareness is an area of literacy development that library staff could encourage to a greater extent, however. Very few instances of such behaviour were observed, with most of the observations taking place in two of the preschool early literacy programs. Concomitantly, developing children’s print awareness is a recommended topic for professional development of library staff.https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/article/view/1961early literacypreschool library programsfamily literacy |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Shelley Stagg Peterson Eunice Jang Carol Jupiter Maggie Dunlop |
spellingShingle |
Shelley Stagg Peterson Eunice Jang Carol Jupiter Maggie Dunlop Preschool Early Literacy Programs in Ontario Public Libraries Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research early literacy preschool library programs family literacy |
author_facet |
Shelley Stagg Peterson Eunice Jang Carol Jupiter Maggie Dunlop |
author_sort |
Shelley Stagg Peterson |
title |
Preschool Early Literacy Programs in Ontario Public Libraries |
title_short |
Preschool Early Literacy Programs in Ontario Public Libraries |
title_full |
Preschool Early Literacy Programs in Ontario Public Libraries |
title_fullStr |
Preschool Early Literacy Programs in Ontario Public Libraries |
title_full_unstemmed |
Preschool Early Literacy Programs in Ontario Public Libraries |
title_sort |
preschool early literacy programs in ontario public libraries |
publisher |
The Partnership |
series |
Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research |
issn |
1911-9593 |
publishDate |
2012-12-01 |
description |
This paper reports on research examining how library staff in 10 Ontario libraries’ preschool literacy programs support three- and four-year-old children’s early literacy and school readiness as well as their parents’ and caregivers’ literacy interactions with their children. Multiple data sources included surveys of 82 parents/caregivers, observations of a sample of 65 of the 198 children at the sessions we visited, and interviews with10 library staff. Observations were analyzed for evidence of children’s development of print motivation, phonological awareness, vocabulary, narrative skills, and print awareness: early literacy skills and knowledge that have been shown to be reliably and significantly correlated with future reading success. Analysis of the observational and interview data showed that the programs have been very successful in fostering children’s readiness to participate in school activities and their motivation to read. Participating children learned new vocabulary, demonstrated an awareness of rhymes and sounds of language, and showed an understanding of books that were read by library staff: all early literacy behaviours that are foundational to later literacy development. The programs have also provided parents/caregivers with new ways to interact with children to engage them with books and with print at home. The development of children’s school readiness skills and parents’ awareness of how to support their children’s literacy are outcomes extending beyond library staff goals for their library programs and should be included in literature advertising the programs. Print awareness is an area of literacy development that library staff could encourage to a greater extent, however. Very few instances of such behaviour were observed, with most of the observations taking place in two of the preschool early literacy programs. Concomitantly, developing children’s print awareness is a recommended topic for professional development of library staff. |
topic |
early literacy preschool library programs family literacy |
url |
https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/article/view/1961 |
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