Programme Lire et crire la maison (LA)

1) Category:
General program

2) Issues Behind the Program:

Early inability to read is one of the characteristics of dropouts. Success in Grade 1 is pivotal because 51% of the students who fail Grade 1 do not finish secondary school. Children from underprivileged communities are at greater risk for academic failure. They generally start school with less literacy experiences and skills, have less access to books and writing material, and have less social interaction involving the written word. Most family literacy programs are for the preschool level. Very few are geared to Grade 1. This is ironic because it is precisely at this stage of a childs journey through school that teachers need the most support from parents on this front.

3) Objectives:
Prevent academic failure by helping parents develop concrete and effective ways of supporting their children who are learning to read and write. Increase literary practices in the family and parent-child interaction involving the written word. Enable children to have significant literacy experiences through play.

4) Environment:
Primary schools Families

5) Target Group:
Grade 1 students Their parents

6) Key Words:
Programme Lire et crire la maison, curaction, school-family-community partnership, general program, reading, writing, family literacy, Grade 1, parenting skills, underprivileged community, emerging writing, academic success

This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/.

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7) Description:
Lire et crire la maison (LA) is a family literacy program that fosters the acquisition of reading in Grade 1. The activities proposed complement what is done in class and emphasize the fun of reading and writing. The program is structured around three components: access to books, social interaction involving books, and home reading and writing activities.

8) Steps:
The workshops are designed to promote interaction, demonstration, experimentation and objectivization of experiences. The format is basically the same for every workshop: o Discussion of the use of proposed strategies and activities from the previous workshop (review of the assignment, search for solutions to the difficulties encountered); Presentation of workshop material and objectives and of how the workshop will be carried out; Pooling of parents former experiences and acquired knowledge; Presentation of the course of action proposed, demonstration of the strategies and attitudes to adopt; Practice and support; Recap (successes, difficulties to resolve) and planning of work at be done at home.

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9) Activities/Actions:
LA consists of eight workshops and a visit to the local library. The suggested rate is one workshop per week starting in September. The visit to the library can take place anytime after the first workshop. Here is an overview of the themes covered: o Workshop 1 Books and academic success: Presentation of the program and its objectives, the pleasure of reading, the importance of parent participation, the leading role played by stories, interactive reading. Workshop 2 Reading to your children, even in Grade 1: Identification of the elements that contribute to the development of know-how and a feeling of competence in reading, advantages derived from reading to children even if they are at the learning stage, strategies for before, during and after reading sessions. Workshop 3 Playing with letters: Learning to write, similarities between learning to speak and learning to write, conditions conducive to the development of these skills, demonstration of three writing games: personal word box, letter games, and alphabet primer. Workshop 4 Reading and writing in everyday life: Demonstration of activities for daily use of household material for teaching reading and writing, parent model, meaningful and enjoyable context, paired storytelling. Workshop 5 Listening to your child read aloud: The reading process, type of support to give your children, shared reading. Workshop 6 Writing games: Nature of support to provide in teaching writing, parents changing role over the year, intention to communicate, interactive writing, paired diary-writing.

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This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/.

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Workshop 7 Listening to your child read aloud in order to help develop his/her skills: Recap of support attitudes and strategies for before, during and after reading sessions. Visit to the local library: Presentation of the services offered, membership, and borrowing of books and games. Workshop 8 Comprehensive and Party: Assessment of the program, thank you to parents, visit from an author, and gift book.

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10) Resources Required:

Human resources: o o One person tasked to lead the program (teacher, remedial teacher, etc.) Instructors Handbook ($39.95). The modules and appendices for each workshop can be reproduced. Financial resources:

11) Roles of the Participants:

The person in charge of the program: o o o o o o o o o o goes over the program to become familiar with the content and the favored approach; recruits the parents with a view to maximizing their participation; leads the eight workshops based on the built-in participatory structure; organizes the visit to the library; works with the parents; ensures dovetailing of program activities and class work. participate actively in the workshops with their child; do the home assignments; try to adopt the attitudes proposed for supporting their child; work with the teacher.

Parents:

12) Scientific Basis or Validity:

LA was developed in autumn 1998 as part of an action-research project. The effects of the program on reading performance were studied by Saint-Laurent and Giasson, among others. They found that: o LA had an impact on the reading performance of Grade 1 students from highly disadvantaged communities. Outcomes were even more positive given that participation at workshops was not maximal and the children whose parents took part in the program had weaker literacy skills to begin with; Children whose parents took part in the workshops did better in school board writing exams than their classmates and the children in control groups. Thanks to the program, more students obtained a passing grade on each of the exams; Parents said that the program changed the way they went about helping their child. By integrating the proposed activities within the childs daily routine, many of the

This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/.

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difficulties stemming from homework and assignments disappeared. The parents would recommend the program to other parents. For more information, see: Saint-Laurent, L., Giasson, J. and Drolet, M. (2003). Le programme lire et crire la maison : Son impact en milieu dfavoris. Qubec : Ministre de lducation du Qubec, Direction de ladaptation scolaire et des services complmentaires.

13) Program Material:

Lire et crire la maison collection, available at Chenelire ducation [in French only]: o o o Instructors Handbook: Lire et crire la maison Programme de littratie familiale favorisant lapprentissage de la lecture Lire et crire la maison 5 videocassettes (optional) A kit consisting of the Instructors Handbook and the videocassettes is also available.

14) Additional Information:

As part of the action-research project, the workshops were given in video form to certain parents. This formula yielded positive outcomes in terms of reading and writing performance, but not with regard to phonological awareness and attitudes towards reading and writing. The conclusion is that the regular workshop format is more effective. The information contained in this factsheet was taken, in whole or in part, from: o o http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/dgfj/das/soutienetacc/ouvrirlesportes/pdf/ Workshop 200.pdf; http://www.cheneliere.ca/main+fr+01_500+Langue_et_communication_Lire_et_ecr ire_a_la_maison_Programme_de_litteratie_familiale_favorisant_lapprentissage_de_l a_lecture.html?DivisionID=4&ItemID=4479; http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/repertoires/fiche/?id=26 ; http://www.viepedagogique.gouv.qc.ca/numeros/127/vp127_33-35.pdf .

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15) Contacts:
Jocelyne Giasson, Author and Professor Department of Studies on Teaching and Learning Faculty of Education, suite 912 Universit Laval Qubec (Qubec) G1K 7P4 Tel.: 418 656-2131, extension 3165 Email: jocelyne.giasson@fse.ulaval.ca Lise Saint-Laurent, Author and Professor Department of Studies on Teaching and Learning Faculty of Education Universit Laval Tel.: 418 656-2131, extension 5493 Email: lise.saint-laurent@fse.ulaval.ca

This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/.

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