Today is the celebration of 'World Literacy Day'. Across the world, there is a heightened recognition and a bustle of activity displaying the importance of literacy. Everyone has a stake in lifting the literacy levels of all persons, but at this time of year, parents are especially important in attending to the literacy needs of their children, as the new school year approaches. Where can parents start to examine their role in this critical part of their child's development?

'A Portrait of Parents of Successful Readers' by Dixie Lee Spiegel, outlines several key beliefs and attitudes of parents of successful readers. Parents of successful readers:

¦ Want their children to succeed.

¦ Impart a sense of importance of education to their children.

¦ Impart a love of reading and a sense of the value of reading to their children.

¦ Like, enjoy, and respect their children, and they are willing to spend time and money, and effort to nurture their literacy.

¦ Believe that they are their child's first teacher.

¦ Know what is happening in the literacy development and schooling of their children.

¦ Believe that they can have an impact on their children's literacy development and are aware of the impact they are having.

¦ Tend to provide literacy materials, especially for children, in their homes.

¦ Read to their children often and serve as reading role models themselves.

¦ Provide effective literacy interactions that assist their children in learning how to construct meaning from text and interact successfully in school settings.

Equipped with these sets of beliefs, parents can further extend them into the school environment. Parents must have the confidence to support their child's literacy progress in schools but gaining that strength requires a proactive approach towards school. This can be called school literacy survival kit for parents.

A starting point for parents is to get to know your child's school. Schools today are aware that parents are a valuable resource in education. Parents should see themselves as equal partners with the teachers in educating their children. Contact time spent with the teacher should be a positive experience and appointments made ahead are conducive to fostering a collaborative relationship. Key sources of information for parents to know are:

¦ who to contact if you would like to get involved in your child's school (Principal, PTA, Teachers)

¦ what activities are available for parents to join

¦ who is responsible for support programmes

¦ what are the extra-curricular activities available for your child

¦ how the school day organised including breaks

¦ what are the discipline, promotion, grading polices

¦ what are the materials of instruction for literacy and numeracy and other key subjects

¦ what are the scheduled assessments

n the staffing structure-what are the teaching assignments

Another key resource is to know the literacy instructional approaches and assessments used in schools. School literacy programmes vary from school to school, teacher to teacher. Varied methods adapt to the different learning needs of children in classrooms (whole language learning/phonics learning) but successful programmes involve both methods. Key approaches in comprehensive literacy include reading and writing aloud; guided reading and writing, shared reading and writing; literature discussion; word study and independent reading and writing. In the classroom children are read to, read with, and read independently-the same practices should be a part of home practices. Be prepared to ask teachers how they are organising the school day to incorporate these approaches and how you can mirror them at home. So much of school literacy practices are home practices. For example-as teachers begin the day with an interactive read aloud, parents can end the day with an interactive read aloud. Teachers can provide tips on how to do this well and what sorts of books are suitable. There are very specific prompting tips that teachers can share with parents to get their children monitoring their reading and writing. For example-by asking if what was read 'made sense and looked right'. Parents have to be aware of what are the ongoing assessments of their children, not only the end of the week spelling tests or end of the year final tests. There are many other ways to get progress checks daily.

Key literacy assessments include:

¦ conferencing with students on a regular basis (teachers should be able to share dated progress notes),

¦ text-reading assessments (or running records) based on a progressive text gradients,

¦ writing samples over time,

¦ book logs with progress checks,

¦ reporting systems that tell you what literacy behaviours are secured and what are the instructional needs. For example-is your child able to read with one to one matching but needs support on phrasing and intonation in reading

Parents can take the initiative to organise a school Parenting Literacy Support Group. Get contact names of parents in your child's grade level and develop ways to connect both in and outside of school to share literacy ideas. For example, parents can organise an in school read-aloud and share a book with children. Parents can help teachers create a parenting resource library for borrowing purposes. An outreach programme for families in need of literacy support can instill more commitment from less confident parents. An outreach programme can offer rides to families to attend literacy nights and even supply reading books for children.

Today, 'World Literacy Day' is a great time to organise as a parent your literacy survival tips for the school year. Know how you will monitor your involvement with your child's literacy progress by being armed with the knowledge of school literacy instructional methods, assessments and support groups that will strengthen your confidence to be an advocate for your child and a support to your child's teacher. What a way to celebrate 'World Literacy Day' everyday!

Next month: Does your child's school have a comprehensive literacy model design?