Many Differing Ladders, Many Ways to Climb

I found this article very appealing; moreover, interesting. As I was reading it I was thinking in all the latino customs that are part of my personal life. I have never realized all activities that I do to improve my own children’s literacy. Activities like: Checking their backpacks on a daily basis, read to them before bedtime, getting my children to school on time, clean and well fed.

It was until I read the Data Collection section presented by Volk & De Acosta in page 197, that I realized that I haven’t paid attention to all reading-related activities that my 4 kids are exposed to, which is constructing their literacy. At home and after they finish homework, they eat, they take a shower and prepare school uniform for next day; they grab a book and read (This is how all of them have became part of the millionaire club in their school). For them reading for about 1 to 2 hours daily is a must. Also when we go to church they read all the passages in the bible, since they are attending to daycare, if the have any free time, caregivers know that they have a book in their backpacks, therefore they start reading as well. On top of all these literacy activities, I emphasize in “reading for pleasure”, since they realize that when mommy is bored she starts reading her fiction book.

As Volk & De Acosta noticed in excerpt no. 5, one of the peculiarities of Latino community is mixing the language within the same sentence. In order to avoid this, the preschool program that I manage, teaches one day the curriculum and instructions in English and then the next day would be all curriculum and instructions in Spanish. With the exception of course in Math, which is always taught in English, and Language, which is taught in their home language. By implementing this structure we are reinforcing their primary language and introduce gradually the students to a whole new experience.

References:

Volk, Dinah & De Acosta Martha (2001). Many different ladders, many ways to climb. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 193-224.