Family Read
About Family Read
Family Read is an adult and family literacy program that includes twenty-nine thoroughly developed and research-supported lessons that:
- Enhance the literacy skills of parents/caregivers in four key areas: listening, speaking, reading, and writing
- Help parents/caregivers understand the importance of reading regularly to their children
- Teach parents how to share stories and themes with children in engaging ways that also help to enhance their vocabulary development and reading comprehension
- Gives parents/caregivers opportunities to reflect on the connections between story themes and their life experiences
- Empower parents to create a comfortable and enjoyable home environment for reading
How Family Read Works
Literacy as Experience
Builds adult literacy skills and connects life experiences to stories
Literacy as Art
Teaches and promotes story-sharing skills (e.g., reading with expression, effective use of tone and inflection, etc.)
Literacy as Process
Links themes in stories to additional reading or writing activities for adults
Family Read also includes Story Extenders, which offer parents/caregivers specific literacy activities to do with children in the home
Research Supporting Family Read
Program evaluations have found a host of positive outcomes associated with Family Read, including:
- an overall increase in average adult reading levels
- parents/caregivers’ enhanced confidence with reading out loud
- increased reading to children in home settings
- increased bonding with children.
Parents have also reported positive impacts of the program on their children, including:
- greater child comprehension of story content
- enhanced child interest and inquisitiveness during shared reading.
2008 Peer Reviewed Study
A 2018 peer-reviewed randomized controlled study found that:
- Family Read was effective in enhancing the quality of parent-child literacy interactions and strengthening the home literacy environment.
- Parents/Caregivers who participated in one semester of the program observed significant improvements in their children’s reading, language, and print skills to a greater degree than parents who had not participated.
Family Read Training
TLC offers a 20-hour Family Read training that prepares educators and social service professionals to provide Family Read classes in their local communities. Training participants spend multiple days:
- learning the underlying philosophy and instructional model of Family Read
- gaining hands-on experience with developing and implementing lesson plans
- participating both as an instructor and as a student
- reflecting on what they are learning
Training Format and Cost
Training can be provided in-person or virtually.
Cost per participant: $1000. Training participants receive 20 hours of training, all program materials, two (2) continuing education units, and access to an expert certified trainer.