Push For Literacy Enlists Parents

Getting families to read together---in any language---is the goal of the project. About $45,000 has been invested to offer the bilingual program at 11 district schools.

Karysha Berganzo read a page from Looking for Insects, then glanced to the right to read the same page in En Busca de Insectos.

The Lake Orienta Elementary second-grader has been able to master reading skills in both her native Spanish and English with the help she has received through the English for Speakers of Other Languages program.

Now, Karysha and hundreds of other Seminole County public school students who speak Spanish as their primary language can get an extra boost in their reading through “ESOL Parents as Reading Partners,” a program that allows them to bring a satchel full of books home to read to their parents.

The bilingual project, which is an offshoot of the “Parents to Kids Backpack Program,” is designed to make family reading time a pleasant experience and to encourage more Spanish-speaking parents to read with their children.

For many students from families who have immigrated from Spanish-speaking countries, reading at home can cause confusion because parents may not be comfortable with English, said Lizette Gonzalez, an ESOL teacher at Lake Orienta and a district trainer for the Reading Partner program.

“It’s difficult to teach your child to read in English when you don’t speak it yourself,” Gonzalez said. “We tell the parents that they are the first teachers before their children get to us, and they can really make a difference.”

Before taking the books home, parents attend training sessions to learn how to make the most of their reading time.

For Spanish-speaking families, popular children’s books are supplied in both English and their native language.

Each book bag contains five to 10 books, along with worksheets and a stuffed “critter” to read to when their parent or an older sibling is not available as a “reading buddy.” The red and black book bags say “Padres Como CompaHIGHBITeros de Lecturas.” The phrase is translated underneath, “Parents as Reading Partners.”

“Our goal with this program is family literacy,” Gonzalez said. “Reading together benefits the children, but really, the parents and the whole family also benefit.”

Gonzalez said many of her students’ parents are trying to master the language along with their children, and the program helps them because they can read the same sentence in both languages.

“It helps my mom to read with me,” said 7-year-old Armando Godoy, whose parents immigrated from El Salvador. “We can read it in English and then in Spanish.”

Armando’s experience is exactly what district officials hope to accomplish in all families participating in the program, which is funded through state and federal grants.

“Kids need that time with their parents in reading, whether it’s in English or Spanish,” said Marjorie Murray, director of Special Projects/Title I. “In Seminole County, we really want to help the parents help the children to read.”

About $45,000 has been invested to offer the bilingual program at 11 district schools that receive Title I funding and are designated as ESOL sites.

It is being offered in Spanish because of the large concentration of Spanish speakers in the district, Murray said. About 65 percent of ESOL students in Seminole County speak Spanish as their first language.

“When I saw the Spanish-speaking parents trying to get involved, it literally broke my heart that we weren’t reaching them because of the language barrier. That’s why we developed this program,” Murray said. “The only way we can get every child reading by grade three is to join together as parents, schools and the community and that’s what we’re doing.”



Comments are closed.