“We Have the Opportunity to Break the Generational Cycle of Illiteracy” – A Conversation with Reading Connections
In Guilford County, North Carolina, Reading Connections’ family literacy program is on a mission to empower parents to be their children’s best advocates and first teachers – working with immigrant and refugee caregivers, Family Literacy Director Alison Welch tells us that when families read together, the joy of books can strengthen an entire community.
Reading Connections is a recipient of the 2024 Let’s Get Children Reading Grant, a Worldreader grant opportunity that supports community-based organizations, schools, and other learning institutions in getting children to read.
Thank you for joining us today. What is a family reading program?
Having been serving our community since 1990, we opened our family literacy program in 2006 to create a space where parents and caregivers can come with their children and learn together.
Reading Connections’ mission is focused on improving literacy and promoting educational equity for people of all ages, empowering them to navigate changes in an increasingly complex world. We opened the family literacy program to families in Guilford County with at least one child aged five or younger – we focus on kindergarten readiness because we know that when children are prepared for kindergarten, they’re more likely to read at grade level. By third grade, they’re more likely to graduate high school and experience future academic success. But older siblings are welcome to join too, and many do. Ultimately, our focus is on helping kids get ready for school, but also equipping their adults with the skills they need to support their children’s academic success.
Why do you think family literacy is key to a child’s success?
We believe that parents and parenting adults are their children’s first teachers and best advocates. And in our program, about 97% of our families are immigrants or refugees, and about 95% of adult learners are mothers. And studies have shown time and time again that a mother’s level of education is the most significant predictor of her child’s academic success.
When the whole family can come together and get excited about reading, that establishes the joy of reading for children at a young age – seeing their siblings, their parents, and their grandparents read can be really powerful.
Alison Welch, Family Literacy Director, Reading Connections
And it’s not a one-way street – a mom from our program told me that her middle school son expressed how proud he was that she was dedicating time to her and her children’s education, and especially to her English language and literacy skills.
What does it mean to be a refugee or immigrant family in Guilford County today?
While the vast majority of our parents are immigrants and refugees, many of their children were born here. Last fiscal year, 65% of our families were living in poverty, and an additional 25% were low-income households. So the large majority of our families are dealing with everything it means to be an immigrant or a refugee in our community, and many are also dealing with poverty at the same time. That’s why we help parents boost their English and literacy skills to be successful in our community.
– Meet Guilford County’s readers here. –
When they develop their own confidence, adults can take a more active role in their children’s education – from parent-teacher conferences to talking with their pediatrician, from getting a library card to registering to vote or studying for their citizenship test if they aren’t US citizens yet. They can help their children read but also better support them in their daily lives.
What do you hope will happen when we help children and adults access diverse, culturally relevant, inspiring stories?
I think that we have the opportunity to break the generational cycle of illiteracy in our community. We know that poverty is generational – a child who is born into poverty is more likely to experience poverty in adulthood. And the same thing is true with illiteracy. And by illiteracy I mean English illiteracy – some of our parents dropped out of school in their home country, others have Master’s degrees.
Children see their parents learning and growing and get the opportunity to learn and grow themselves. But that’s difficult to do when so many children’s books out there only feature white kids and animals.
With BookSmart, we’ve seen a shift in parent behavior. Parents have started sharing books in their home language with each other in our WhatsApp groups, where previously it was mostly our staff sharing resources.
Alison Welch
About half of the families we serve are Spanish-speaking and 30-35% speak Arabic. From day one, moms got excited about BookSmart’s Spanish and Arabic titles that they could read confidently. It’s been wonderful to see that community flourish on WhatsApp.
Reading Connections has been in the community for decades. How has your work evolved throughout the years and since receiving the Let’s Get Children Reading Grant?
I started as a volunteer in 2014 before joining as staff and since then, I’ve seen Reading Connections become a trusted resource for immigrant and refugee families in our community. I saw the organization grow tremendously by word of mouth – families have positive experiences in our programs and tell their friends and neighbors about what it’s done for them. Some of the parents in the program later became part of the family literacy leadership team.
Many of the moms have shared with me that whether they’ve been in the country for 20 weeks or 20 years, they didn’t have a community before the program. It’s not just about our staff teaching concepts; it’s about these women engaging and supporting each other. That’s what’s been most powerful for me – bringing people together and facilitating spaces for connections to happen organically.
But reading and establishing a reading routine is the foundation for learning and success – not just in school but in daily life and for generations to come. And that’s where I think the grant and BookSmart have been invaluable.
Being able to partner with Worldreader and provide our families with BookSmart gave us a way of telling our families: We see you and while we’re teaching you English, we also recognize how impactful it can be to read books with your children in your home language.
Alison Welch
Part of that activity we’re seeing on WhatsApp groups, I think, is a reflection of the fact that these immigrant moms feel seen in the books that BookSmart provides. Pair that with the opportunity to have a whole library of books in their pocket at all times, and you have yourself a new reading habit.
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