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My Thoughts Regarding Course Articles and Videos

Halle Klein

214310940

York University

EDST 3760: Early and Family Literacy

Dr. Karen Armstrong

May 19, 2022

 
Response № 1: TEDxDayton A Literate Life Bridge Shingleton
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Attending and digesting Bridget Shingleton’s TEDx talk was a transformative experience. I was

left feeling quite speechless and dumbfounded through her compelling words and authoritative, yet

influential presentation. Shingleton is a woman of many hats: a writer, speaker, educator, professor are a

few noteworthy titles to mention. She demonstrates that humans are selfish in that we too often take our

literacy for granted, which is a notion that struck me hard as I can admit that I fall victim to this every

day. Throughout her discussion, she highlights the importance of literacy and how reading can truly

transform lives.

“Illiteracy is a largely invisible issue” (Shingleton, 2017). I wholeheartedly agree with her view

and I believe that this is such a prominent recurring theme especially among the adult population. I

believe that there is a huge social stigma surrounding adult illiteracy where these individuals feel

extremely embarrassed and ashamed that it drives them to go to great lengths to hide their lack of literacy

skills. This is highlighted through Shingleton’s example of a man named Larry, who goes to the grocery

store and always asks fellow shoppers to help him read parts of food labels. He repeatedly makes it a

point to let them know he cannot read the labels because he left his glasses at home. However, in reality

Larry chooses to lie and conceal his truths of being illiterate. No human should ever feel the way Larry

feels. Illiteracy is much more common than we think, yet why is society sweeping this under the rug and

choosing to neglect addressing this paramount problem?

As an aspiring future educator, I find it imperative to break down these existing repellent barriers

and open the floor to facilitate open, honest, and safe discussions. Shingleton’s talk brought me back to a

memory from the 8th Grade where we were assigned reading buddies in the 3 rd Grade. My reading buddy,

Shani, had just immigrated to Canada from Israel a week prior. Retrospectively, I was not familiar with

the term “illiterate” however now, this is how I would classify Shani’s reading, writing, and speaking

skills. Even at such a young age, I could sense Shani’s embarrassment and feeling judged by not being

able to effectively communicate in the dominant language with her peers and myself. I have to admit, at

first I was bothered by my teacher’s decision to place me with the only non-English speaking student and

I was quite envious of my friends and their experiences. Behaving as an immature 14-year-old, I did not
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see the blessing I was gifted with in changing Shani’s life and acting as an important figure in her own

literacy journey.

I feel as though Shingleton’s talk is a vital resource in paving the direction for changing attitudes

towards illiteracy. As humans, we inherently tend to judge and ridicule people based on a variety of

things, but most importantly one’s literacy abilities. Moving forward as a society, we must collectively

adopt this non-judgemental behaviour if we are seeking any type of radical and positive changes in the

future regarding literacy attitudes.

Response № 2: Silent voices of homelessness from Jinhee Kim & Su-Jeong Wee

The issue of homelessness is not something new that we as a society are facing. In fact,

homelessness continues to remain a recurring societal problem for centuries, arguably an epidemic, yet

we rarely see advocators and policy makers fighting for change. Why are we so uncomfortable when

discussing homelessness? The negative attitudes and feelings we have so deeply rooted is not an extrinsic

problem, rather a systemic one. Perhaps the discomfort is not the real issue at hand as humans are bound

to feel uneasy discussing a topic that they are unfamiliar with. But to continue to go about our daily lives

pretending these individuals do not exist, that is a serious problem. So how does one go about tackling

this seemingly tremendous issue? I argue that the first step is through education, specifically the young

pupils of today. It would be a crime to fail children of the future with such a lack of knowledge

surrounding homelessness; we want to create advocators of change, not bystanders.

Kim and Wee’s article is extremely instrumental on illuminating the merely non-existent and

indecent representation of homelessness content being served in children’s pictures books. Stimulating

the classic domino effect, children read these stories and then are able to grasp a “better” understanding

about homeless individuals, who they are, and where to find them. But is their knowledge genuinely

enhanced from reading bogus stories? As a future educator, I am grappling with this topic. It is extremely

prominent in today’s society and requires a thoughtful, yet delicate delivery of education, especially for

young children to comprehend. I sincerely agree with Kim and Wee’s stance in that there are detrimental
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impacts with children’s genuine understanding of homelessness when they read books and are grasping

knowledge that is embedded with blatant stereotypes.

Kim and Wee describe a study done by Kelley and Darrah (2011) where they uncovered the

misrepresentation of poverty being portrayed in children’s picture books. More specifically, they found

that these books would consistently explain poverty as an individual issue that can be easily solved with

personal effort, rather than more appropriately allude to institutional inequity. I was actually shocked by

these written words. I could not believe or understand how authors of these particular children’s books

thought this was a suitable way of enlightening a child with notions on how to “solve” poverty. I am

appalled and I believe we are doing children a complete disservice with educating them using these

stories.

The findings of this study are truly shocking.

“… the representations of homeless in children’s picture books were described largely in stereotypical

ways over 20 years of publications” (Kim & Wee, 2018).

“These books strongly retained negative and outdated portrayals of homelessness” (Kim & Wee, 2018).

What is also important to note is that the characters experiencing homelessness were predominantly adult

males. What happened to females and homelessness? Does this unintentionally teach children that males

are the only sufferers of homelessness? How does this distorted view impact young male children’s frame

of mind?

Evidently, these representation of homelessness must be re-addressed and re-examined with

respect to social inequity and stereotypical manipulations. I believe that this study holds great power in

that it opens up the floor for conversations and potential teaching practices that should be addressed in the

education system. Simply put, educators need to care. They must pay close attention to how children’s

books are addressing homelessness and utilize their colleagues and peers when re-structuring the

homelessness conversations in their own classrooms.

Response № 3: TedxBeaconStreet Can A Children’s Book Change the World? From Linda Sue

Park
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“Can a children’s book save the world? No. But the young people who read them, can” (Park,

2015). After watching countless Tedx talks, it was this particular discussion facilitated by author Linda

Sue Park that remains memorable. She sheds light on the remarkable reasons for how reading has the

power to foster a more empathic environment, something all humans can massively benefit from. Park’s

talk is extraordinary as she reminds us of the magical quality that books inherently radiate. I strongly

agree with Park’s view that books have the ability to teach, transport, and surpass uncomfortable

confinements and boundaries.

Park’s personal stake and journey surrounding this notion is what truly blew me away. Her New

York Times bestseller book “A Long Walk to Water” is based on a true story and perfectly demonstrates

how children can learn empathy and crucial character-building all from reading a book. Park tells the

heart wrenching story of Salva Dut who in 1985 fled his village during the Second Sudan Civil War and

became a “lost boy.” For the next 10 years, Salva endured appalling situations and circumstances while

living in refugee camps, however in the mid 1990s Salva’s life changed forever. He was fortunate to be

one of about 3800 children selected to receive an immigrant visa and relocated to Rochester, New York

where he was adopted by a White family and eventually went to school, learned English, and got a job. In

2003, Salva founded the non-profit called “Water for South Sudan” and successfully delivered 295 wells

delivering clean water to the most remote regions in Sudan. This book unfolds Salva’s journey from

escaping the war and his eventual return back to Sudan with his vision of making a difference. Park

explains that as children read this story, they practice Salva’s responses to the unfairness he faced in

terms of hope and perseverance. Children are putting “practice into practice” with physical action as they

go out and raise money through walkathons, selling wrist bands, and saving pennies. These events all

require hard work and determination demonstrating yet again, hope and perseverance.

I find it incredible how children can read a story, digest the content, and become better connected

with different perspectives and real-life human experiences. I truly believe that the precious value of a

book is irreplaceable. Soaring cases of illiteracy and affordance for books rips at my heart, tearing it into

pieces. No child should ever be deprived of a story, yet I am not naïve as this is a colossal trend that is
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poisoning the children of the future. With my goal of striving to become an elementary teacher, I know

the merit behind reading and I plan to take the necessary time and effort to help my students understand

and unlock their potential powers with respect to reading. As Park (2015) puts it “one of the most

valuable things we can pass on to all kids is a passion for books” and I aspire to do exactly that.

Response № 4: The Impact of COVID-19 on Families’ Home Literacy Practices with Young

Children from Kirsten Read, Grace Gaffney, Ashley Chen, & Amina Imran

Read et al.’s (2021) pertinent article explores childhood literacy effects of COVID-19 looking to

illuminate a correlation between the strict lockdown orders and a child’s habitual reading habits. I thought

the results were quite interesting and I was thoroughly engaged as the research in question is extremely

relevant to the young children of today. Before reading the abstract, I thought it would be an interesting

task to make my own predication regarding COVID-19 and childhood literacy using my existing

knowledge and consciousness and then compare with the actual findings. I thought this study could go

either two ways, both complete opposite directions. Immediately, I was of the opinion that children’s

literacy would suffer and thus demonstrate a negative correlation as the primary learning vehicles,

schools, daycares, early childhood centers, were forced to shut down leaving children and caregivers lost.

However on the other hand, I thought about the drastic increase in time that families would now be

granted as a result of the lockdown and predicated that because of this affordance, caregivers would have

additional time that can be allocated for reading and storytelling. Ultimately, Read et al.’s (2021) research

found that the frequency of reading that occurred pre-lockdown in February 2020 had no significant

change during lockdown October 2020. In addition, it was quite intriguing to learn that throughout this

specific time period, there was a remarkable increase in the frequency of screen-mediated reading. Does a

child receive the same benefits from reading a story on a tablet versus a physical book?

I found it very satisfying that this study truthfully revealed that families were able to stay

consistent with the amount of time spent reading to their children throughout COVID-19 and all of its

chaos. To me, this shows that caregivers really understand the importance of reading to children.
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However, I do recognize a very significant limitation that is present among this study, one so vital that

results and findings could have shown drastic differences. Read et al. (2021) briefly mentions that this

study failed to include families who were facing major health, financial, and childcare crises. I find this

exclusion be troublesome as it can be fair to conclude that the results are not inclusive and universal

among many different types of families. What about parents who lost their child’s daycare where reading

was a daily activity? What about parents who cannot afford a wealth of books or have no access to online

book resources? Evidently, these findings reflect only a small portion of the population.

After reading this article, I was able to make an inconspicuously important connection to

Response № 2’s discussion of Kim and Wee’s article. Their notions on homelessness being

misrepresented in children’s books speaks to the ways in which a story can teach a child quite difficult

and compact topics such as homelessness, mental health, racism, and financial struggle. If educators and

caregivers recognize the powerful lessons that books can teach, it can truly uplift and intensify children’s

literacy and world understanding. Although it is true that books can be read for pleasure, it would be

mindless to believe that enjoyment and bliss is the only outcome. Relating this to Kim and Wee’s

findings, Read et al. (2021) reported that parents were intentionally introducing books about “big topics”

to use reading as a way to address family-relevant issues such as racial justice, gender equity, pandemic-

related topics such as handwashing and many more. If we adopt Read et. al (2021) and Kim and Wee’s

(2018) perspective on the powerful lessons and knowledge that books can teach, we can prepare the

young pupils of today for a very viable future.

Response № 5: Beyond the numbers: Social and emotional benefits of participation in the

Imagination Library home-based literacy programme from Sara L Neyer, Gregory A Szumlas, and

Lisa M Vaughn

Neyer et al.’s (2021) qualitative study dives deep on the subject of home-based literacy programs,

specifically the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) to uncover the undiscovered and neglected
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impacts of non-objective measures on the enrolled child’s literacy. In particular, the research questions

were directed to the parent subjects to explore their perceptions of what they believe are the social and

emotional benefits to their child while partaking in the DPIL home-based literacy program. Before

coming across this article, I was not aware that such programs existed for families. I could not help but be

in awe and gain an overwhelming amount of respect for individuals like Dolly Parton as programs like

hers have the potential to shrink the devastating literacy gap among families ranking on the low-

socioeconomic status spectrum. Over the years, the benefits of home reading to children have been well

documented and it can confidently be concluded that those who grow up in a home with a robust literacy

environment have greater academic success than children with poor home literacy situations. Thus this

clearly demonstrates the impressive feature that home-based literacy programs illustrate in that they can

genuinely transform a child’s literacy and future learning.

The DPIL is a free book gifting program committed to encouraging a love for reading for

children between the ages 0 to 5. Enrolled children receive monthly high quality and age-appropriate

books in the mail, evidently free of charge and with no incentives to return the gifted books.

“Participation in the DPIL results in a home library of 60 books by age 5, if the child was enrolled from

birth” (Neyer et al., 2021). This quote from the article shocked me and brought a huge smile to my face.

This program deserves a serious applause; it is life-changing. Another outstanding outcome highlighted in

this article speaks to the success of DPIL and shows a clear contrast between children who are enrolled

versus not. More specifically, it has been discovered that children who are consistently participating in the

DPIL are more prepared to begin kindergarten and when comparing kindergarten readiness in maths and

early literacy, these children outperformed and received higher test scores than their non-enrolled peers.

In addition to this, the enrolled children are typically able to read more efficiently for longer periods of

time and exhibit an authentic love for reading. The results truly speak for themselves.

After pulse interviewing 17 families participating in the DPIL program, the findings of

parent/caregiver’s perceptions showed 4 distinct categories: other family members having access to and

benefits from the books, increased sense of pride through building their own libraries, heightened
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awareness of the reading and academic success correlation, and development of traditions and routines

surrounding reading. Unmistakably, I can truly see how the DPIL program is positively impacting

children and families far beyond just a literacy point of view.

After learning about Dolly Parton’s book program, I was able to make a personal connection with

something I habitually do with my books after I am finished reading them. I noticed some time ago in my

neighborhood library that they have a large donation box where they donate used books to underfunded

daycare and childhood centers who are struggling financially to afford books. Although not as large as

DPIL, I feel really good about donating by books here because I know it is going towards a good cause

and will make a difference in child’s life. Reading about DPIL was an eye-opening experience and I love

how influential individuals are using their powerful leadership to do good in our world.

Response № 6: Improving early child development with words from Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald

Dr. Fitzgerald, an American obstetrician-gynecologist, shares the gravity and seriousness of

talking with your baby. She beautifully articulates her opinion using science-based research to cast light

on the importance of early exposure to language and its dependent relationship with a child’s future

learning and success. Dr. Fitzgerald emphasizes the crucial role that all caregivers inherently play in

determining a child’s accomplishment with their vocabulary development and the process through which

new words are learned. She mentions how simple it can be for caregivers to have normal, everyday

conversations and interactions with their babies. Clearly, a baby will not understand what is being spoken,

but Dr. Fitzgerald explains that this exposure leads to repetitive neuron engagement where babies will

eventually learn the meaning of new words.

What I found particularly interesting was Dr. Fitzgerald’s discussion about the importance of

vocabulary in that it is not all about how much you say, rather which words you choose is equally as

important. Through her studies, she discovered the following: children’s vocabulary at 30 months was

most influenced by the quantity of words the caregiver used one year prior, children’s vocabulary at 42

months was most influenced by the caregiver’s use of a variety of sophisticated words used one year
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prior, and children’s vocabulary at 54 months was most influenced by the caregiver’s use of narratives

and explanations one year prior. I was fascinated by her research because I never made the connection

and realized the importance talking with your baby has. As one example, it is an indicator of the child’s

future success in school, which can be scary to think about as this is a huge responsibility of the caregiver

early on to ensure the child thrives later on in life.

In addition, Dr. Fitzgerald discussed the significance of a family’s socioeconomic status in

determining the spectrum of a child’s vocabulary. There is a stark contrast between families living in

poverty versus middle- or high-class with respect to the range of their child, or children’s vocabulary. She

shared a bar graph that illustrated the notion “30 million word gap” where children living in “professional

families” understood 43 million words versus children living in poverty who understood only 11 million

words. At first, I thought 11 million words was an impressive quantity. However, in comparison with

children who are living better off, the difference is devastatingly compelling. She further illuminates the

catastrophic impacts on a child’s vocabulary when living in poverty as it has been concluded that

professional families are speaking over 2000 words per hour in comparison to families in poverty who are

speaking only about 600 words per hour. Again, I see the drastic difference in numbers when using a

socioeconomic lens.

If I am being completely transparent, Dr. Fitzgerald’s talk left me feeling melancholic and I

cannot help but have so many questions for the children of the future. Whenever socioeconomic status is

the root “cause” of the problem, I always feel this sense of hopelessness because I know that poverty and

low-income families will always exist. Yes, I can admit that many improvements have occurred over the

years, but it would be very naïve to believe that poverty can be completely eradicated. I feel sorry for

these children growing up this way and I feel guilty for growing up my way. Reflecting on my own

literacy journey, this talk has shown me that my parents at least did one thing right when I was a baby,

and that would be the early conversations and interactions that occurred as Dr. Fitzgerald expresses are

vital for success in future endeavors.

References

Fitzgerald, B. (2014). Improving early child development with words: Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald at

TEDXAtlanta. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8qc8Aa3weE

Kim, K., & Wee, S. (2018). Silent voices of homelessness: content analysis of homelessness in children’s

picture books published in the U.S. from 1990 to 2016. Early Child Development and Care,
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190(3), 364-375. https://doi.org/10.1080

/03004430.2018.1473388

Neyer, S. L., Szumlas, G. A., & Vaughn, L. M. (2021). Beyond the numbers: Social and emotional

benefits of participation in the Imagination Library home-based literacy program. Journal of

Early Childhood Literacy, 21(1), 60-81.

https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/10.1177/1468798418810765

Read, K., Gaffney, G., Chen, A., & Imran, A. (2021). The Impact of COVID-19 on Families’ Home

Literacy Practices with Young Children. Early Childhood Education Journal, , 1-10.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-021-01270-6

Shingleton, B. (2017, December 11). A Literate Life. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=FINsh6nRLGk

Park, L. S. (2015, December 2). Can A Children’s Book Change the World? Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40xz0afCjnM