With one in six adults in England having very poor literacy skills, it is likely that many early years practitioners will work with a parent who struggles with reading or writing, especially those based in disadvantaged areas.
The National Literacy Trust defines literacy as, ‘The ability to read, write, speak and listen in a way that lets us communicate effectively and make sense of the world.’ Adults who have problems reading:
- struggle with tasks such as food shopping and using public transport
- are five times more likely to be unemployed and four times more likely to experience long-term unemployment
- struggle to help their children with learning
- have difficulties understanding basic health information, which is associated with higher mortality
- are less likely to vote or take part in public and community life.
‘Poverty, place and literacy are inextricably linked, so adults who live in disadvantaged communities are most at risk of experiencing literacy problems,’ says Kirsty Cunnington, early years programme manager at the National Literacy Trust.
‘Those who struggle with literacy are more likely to have dropped out of school. They often have difficulty finding employment and miss out on opportunities to participate fully in society and the workforce, which leads to them continuing to live in poverty.’
She believes that a large number of adults in the literacy statistics (see box) are parents. ‘It is recognised that parents are a child’s first educator and we know that the home learning environment is key. This cycle will continue unless we and early years practitioners can do something to support parents,’ she says. ‘Some early years practitioners question whether this is their role. Their work is primarily with the children, but working with and supporting the whole family is key.’
Stella Ziolkowski, National Day Nurseries Association director of training and quality, agrees. ‘It is vital that settings work with parents to ensure they are able to access information on their child’s development and any areas that need support, in order to work on this at home,’ she says.
‘If parents are struggling to read or write, this could impact on children’s attainment in their foundation years and at school.’
BUILDING TRUST
The stigma often associated with low literacy means many parents will not freely admit it and may cleverly hide their struggles, making it tricky for practitioners to identify. Ms Cunnington warns that it can result in parents not engaging well with early years settings because they may fear more formal environments.
‘It is all about practitioners building trust with parents so they can understand them rather than judge them,’ she advises. ‘It is important to demonstrate respect and empathy and to be aware of their own bias and prejudices.’
Points to consider when communicating with parents to ensure that those with difficulties are not excluded include:
- Offering to help all parents with completing registration and funding forms
- Checking with parents on how they would like to be kept updated
- Using photographs or images alongside written information
- Using a bold and clear font for notices
- Avoiding giving too much verbal information at once – sometimes people need to see or hear things three or four times before digesting it.
Staff at West Street Nursery in Erith, an Early Years Alliance setting in South East London, ensure there is a lot of verbal communication with new parents. ‘Parents are often embarrassed and will do things like pretend they’ve forgotten their glasses if they are required to read something,’ says manager Paula Sweeney. ‘We make sure we ask all parents if they would like help to go through and complete the registration forms so that no-one feels singled out.
‘Most parents say yes. Sometimes the local Children’s Centre will refer families to us and the staff tell us if parents need additional support. Health visitors often accompany parents who may need additional help to the setting, as do Family Lives representatives.’
Parents will often confide in staff about their reading or writing difficulties once they feel comfortable in the setting. Staff then signpost them to literacy support groups, help them with their child’s home learning and ensure that they are given news and updates verbally.
SHARED LEARNING
‘Parents participating and actively being involved in the early years setting can have a significant impact on improving children’s learning and addressing their needs,’ says Ms Ziolkowski. ‘This promotes trusting relationships with key persons and an opportunity for them to facilitate and model learning activities, while giving a sense of community and belonging within the provision. It supports shared learning experiences, heightening parents’ awareness and confidence to support their children’s learning and development effectively.’
She suggests inviting parents to stay-and-play sessions and, to stop them feeling pressured to read from a book, practitioners could model how to tell stories from memory or use props such as puppets, toys and photographs.
‘In our training we try to get across to practitioners that parents can develop the skills to help their children with early learning and language, such as singing songs and nursery rhymes, chatting about what they are doing and even sharing books by talking about the pictures or listening to audio books,’ says Ms Cunnington.
‘Parents can learn alongside their child and be inspired by their child’s learning, which can be very empowering in encouraging them to seek help with their own literacy.’
case study: Cullompton Pre-school, Devon
‘We always ask during home visits if a parent needs support with reading or writing and the answer is always no. Despite this we’ve worked with four families where it has been a problem and we find it takes great tact and skill. Signs include forms being completed by more than one person, brushing aside paperwork, or comments about not getting on with paperwork,’ says pre-school leader and early years teacher Amelia Joyner.
‘When we suspect a parent has literacy issues we read forms out to them, communicate verbally as much as possible and use photos to describe what their children are doing in nursery and suggest that they share photos with us too. We make a point of supporting families by reminding them of any appointments. We have to consider how scary it must be to face professionals if you can’t read the reports that they have written, and we try to help and encourage families.
‘One mum is from a traveller family and has little support from her family after moving into a house with her husband and children. Her son attended the pre-school before going to school and her daughter is now with us. Both children have developmental difficulties so have required intervention. We noticed that she signs referrals without first reading them and brings in official letters. She is a private person, but I’ve managed to form a bond with her. When she brings in letters, I take her into the parent room and read them out to myself, so that she can hear the information before we discuss it.
‘Unfortunately, she fails to take her children to many appointments despite us saying and writing down the times and dates for her, talking through how to get there and what to expect. She gets taken off waiting lists, just for us to refer her again. I worry that she is not able to manage due to her literacy issues which affect her confidence and impact hugely on her children.’
The Big Picture
There is no overall adult literacy figure for the UK because surveys use different measures of literacy and are carried out in different years, but:
- One in six adults in England has very poor literacy skills.
- One in four adults in Scotland experiences challenges due to lack of literacy skills.
- One in eight adults in Wales lacks basic literacy skills.
- One in six adults in Northern Ireland has very poor literacy skills.
- Up to one in three adults in England’s poorest communities lack the literacy skills expected of an 11-year-old.
- England is the only country in the developed world where literacy is worse in the younger generation (aged 16-24) than in those approaching retirement (aged 55-65).
FURTHER INFORMATION
- National Literacy Trust runs early years programmes to train early years staff and volunteers to work with families: https://literacytrust.org.uk/early-years
- Read Easy gives free tuition to adults who struggle with reading: https://readeasy.org.uk
- The Reading Agency provides free resources to support adult reading skills: https://readingagency.org.uk