An investigation of the perspectives of low-income Latina mothers with preschoolers transitioning to kindergarten

Abstract

Research in the United States (U.S.) documents that young Latino children whose families are characterized by demographic risk factors disproportionately lack the early literacy skills needed to successfully transition to kindergarten. Quantitative studies using comparative samples have found lower quality home learning environments and lower scores on a child outcome assessments among Latino children compared to their Black and White peers. A small body of qualitative, non-comparative studies that focus on Latino families in their own right provides descriptive accounts of the positive ways that Latina mothers and other family members promote child literacy development, despite being characterized by demographic risk factors. However, the social address variables utilized in quantitative studies limit our understanding of the family processes affecting child literacy development, and most qualitative studies focus on older, school-aged children with very few studies focusing on the early transitional period before kindergarten, especially for Latinos. Addressing current gaps in the literature on preschool-aged children, we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews and photo-elicitation interviews with 17 low-income Latina mothers of Head Start preschoolers in a northern Chicago suburb in the U.S. Privileging mothers’ voices and experiences, we explored their in-home emergent literacy practices and the role of other family members in promoting children’s literacy development. Informed by a family resilience framework, we accessed intimate family worlds that reveal highly engaged and resilient parents. Specifically, we identified numerous child literacy skills that families supported through an array of family instructional practices and tools. We further identified the role of various available family members, particularly fathers and siblings. These findings add to substantive discussions of emergent literacy, resilience and familismo. Insights from the qualitative interviews lead to recommendations for how early childhood educators can capitalize on families’ funds of knowledge, and view them as valued collaborators.

Keywords

Emergent literacy qualitative research Latino/Hispanic families family literacy low income school readiness

Introduction

Research conducted in the United States (U.S.) documents that young Latino children disproportionately lack the early literacy skills needed to successfully transition to kindergarten relative to their African-American and White peers (Lee and Burkham, 2002). Acquired during the early preschool years, emergent literacy is composed of skills that represent developmental precursors to reading and writing (Whitehurst and Lonigan, 1998), including phonological awareness, concepts about print, letter knowledge and emergent writing (Yopp and Yopp, 2009). School readiness researchers document that the emergent literacy skills children bring to kindergarten predict their early school success as well as future reading, writing and academic success.

Parents, children’s ‘first teachers’, play an important role in supporting their preschoolers’ emergent literacy skills through early home practices (Ehri and Roberts, 2006). Evidence from research conducted in the United States has shown that home literacy environments (e.g. explicitly teaching letters, shared book-reading) improve the early literacy skills of young children (Farver et al., 2013) and support later reading achievement (Sénéchal and Young, 2008). However, until recently, there has been a tendency to assume that children from low-income and ethnically-linguistically diverse families came from homes that were ‘literacy impoverished’ (Auerbach, 1995: 385). In these homes, parents did not value literacy, possessed few reading materials, engaged in few reading and writing activities, and overall did not support their children’s literacy development. This belief or assumption has generally been based on the results of numerous large-scale, comparative studies that focus primarily on parent deficits and demographic characteristics and their relationship with children’s literacy outcomes (Brooks-Gunn and Markman, 2005; Hammer et al., 2010; Raikes et al., 2006; Reese and Gallimore, 2000; Suizzo and Stapleton, 2007). Increasingly, however, other researchers are examining the strengths of Latino families (Peterson et al., 2018; see Valdés, 1996). Non-comparative studies that focus on Latino families in their own right document the positive ways that families promote child literacy development in preparation for the kindergarten transition, despite being characterized by multiple demographic risk factors. In particular, a few qualitative studies that take a broader perspective of early home literacy environments have described diverse family-based literacy activities, an array of learning tools and resources, and teaching and instructional strategies that facilitate children’s literacy development (Perry et al., 2008). While uncommon, these studies also identify multiple family members in addition to mothers who support children’s early literacy development (Volk, 2017).

While the literature has suggested that families play a strong role in children’s emergent literacy, few studies have provided rich descriptive accounts of the literacy practices of low-income Latina mothers with preschoolers in the U.S. and the role of other family members. Moving beyond research that focuses on social address variables that limit our understanding of family processes, this qualitative study takes a family resilience approach. Rather than focusing on family deficits, the goal of this study is to focus on family agency, resourcefulness, and the subcultural role of familismo to highlight what low-income Latino families in suburban Chicago – not just mothers – are doing as opposed to what they are not doing to support their preschoolers’ literacy development as they transition to kindergarten.

Emergent literacy practices among Latino families in the United States

Researchers utilizing large-scale data sets have examined the differences in home literacy practices between White families and ethnically-diverse families. This research generally suggests that Latina mothers read less frequently to their children, have fewer books in the home, visit libraries less frequently, and overall engage in fewer literacy activities than do middle-class White mothers (Hammer et al., 2010; Raikes et al., 2006; Reese and Gallimore, 2000; Sonnenschein and Sun, 2017; Suizzo and Stapleton, 2007). Furthermore, similar studies have found that Latina mothers who are characterized by multiple demographic risk factors expose their children to fewer literacy activities and materials at home (Bracken and Fischel, 2008; Davis et al., 2016; Yarosz and Barnett, 2001). Although these studies provide valuable information about the association between home learning environments and preschoolers’ outcomes, findings such as these may lead to assumptions and stereotype low-income families as deficient in their ability to promote children’s literacy development, as well as homogenous in their practices.

A small number of non-comparative quantitative studies that focus solely on Latino samples with young children have found that Latina mothers and other family members do engage in literacy activities that support their children’s emergent literacy. For example, Peterson et al. (2018) found that the majority of low-income families reported positive literacy behaviours, including teaching children the letters of the alphabet, telling the child a story, reading to the child, and taking the child to the library.

Other researchers have taken a more qualitative approach to examining the types of literacy activities that low-income Latino families engage in with their preschoolers. Through rich descriptive accounts and the use of multiple qualitative data collection strategies, scholars have shown that Latino families do engage in various literacy-related activities with their young children. For example, through the use of semi-structured interviews, researchers detailed the home literacy environments of Puerto Rican Head Start mothers (Sawyer et al., 2016). The researchers described mothers using flashcards, puzzles and other educational materials in the home. Owning children’s books and reading to children was also reported. Drawing on journal entries from Latino immigrant families with preschoolers living near the Mexico–U.S. border, Perry et al. (2008) described mothers’ use of prompting and demonstration styles to engage their children in literacy activities. Participant observation research that entailed home visits further described how low-income Mexican-American families from two southern U.S. states supported their preschoolers’ cognitive development (Bridges et al., 2015). Families engaged children in learning activities, such as reading, writing, colouring and drawing.

In a rare study recognizing the role of other family members in Head Start preschoolers’ literacy development, Lynch (2008) found that the most frequently listed family member who was engaged in reading or writing activities with the child was the child’s father. Some mothers also included an older sibling, the child’s aunt/uncle, or the child’s grandparents.

Ethnographic studies with samples with slightly older children (kindergartners, first graders) report similar findings. Mexican-American families living in Chicago were described as using formal learning activities that entailed teaching children the alphabet, facilitating writing, and reading words in Spanish and English books and workbooks. Informal activities entailed writing letters in Spanish to family members (Gillanders and Jiménez, 2004). Families of Cuban descent residing in the U.S. were described as having multiple books in the home, as well as using guided reading strategies. Further, families encouraged children to retell stories that were read to them (Barza, 2014). Volk’s (2017) study of Latino families (Puerto Rican, Salvadoran) in the U.S. details how various family members, including siblings, grandparents and cousins, assisted with homework and other literacy activities.

Researchers agree that literacy practices are culturally defined (Heath, 1984) and that home practices may differ across cultures. Embedded in each Latino community is a distinct cultural heritage with unique cultural practices (Schick and Melzi, 2016) that should be honoured and respected. Thus, due to the large variability among Latino subgroups, some qualitative studies have included ethnocultural classifications, mainly when culture-based practices, interactions and perceptions are of interest (see Caspe, 2009; Hammer et al., 2010). These studies caution us against assuming that low-income Latina mothers are monolithic, as variations exist within this group.

Summary of the strengths and limitations of current research

Research on emergent literacy practices suggests they promote early literacy learning (Burgess et al., 2002), an important predictor of school success, particularly for low-income Latino students considered to be at risk for school failure (Lee and Burkham, 2002). Quantitative-comparative studies identify key correlates associated with child literacy outcomes and parental characteristics. Due to their use of large-scale national data sets, comparative research allows findings to be generalized. On the other hand, only a handful of non-comparative demographic studies identify variability in literacy activities within Latino families, which comparative studies miss (Peterson et al., 2018).

However, demographic variables such as single parenthood and low maternal education, which often evoke images of dysfunctional and disadvantaged families and are mainly utilized in comparative studies, limit our understanding of the complex but rich family processes that occur in these families (Davis et al., 2016; Raikes et al., 2006). Relatedly, the measures and assessment tools used in many of these studies that aim to identify literacy-related practices were configured and developed for middle-class, English-speaking, White families and not for ethnically-culturally-linguistically diverse communities. As a result, they do not align with culturally valued activities and characterize Latino families as deficient in their literacy-promoting parenting practices (Brooks-Gunn and Markman, 2005). Furthermore, these assessment tools disregard practices that may be unique to Latino families. There is also increasing knowledge that standardized tests and measures of literacy outcomes focus on a limited number of outcomes and disadvantage Latino and children of colour (Sonnenschein et al., 2016). Finally, while many of these studies use broad ethnic groupings, increasing heterogeneity, they also ignore that people within a group are incredibly heterogeneous.

Although qualitative research uses small samples from which only tentative claims can be made, it provides an extensive description of the multiple ways in which families engage in literacy-related activities with their children (Heath, 1984; Purcell-Gates, 1996; Teale, 1986). Because of the multiple qualitative data collection strategies used and the broad perspective on the early literacy home environment that researchers take, their analyses included a broader variety of literacy activities and challenge the presupposed 1-1 relation between home learning environments and demographic factors.

While researchers are increasingly utilizing qualitative studies that have the potential to uncover family literacy practices among Latino families largely missed in quantitative research, such studies are relatively limited: Most studies focus on older, school-aged children or mixed-age children (see Barza, 2014; Valdés,1996). Consequently, we have less in-depth information on the early transitional period before kindergarten among Latino families. Like quantitative studies, many qualitative studies have also failed to acknowledge the influential role of familismo among Latino families. As a result, little is known about the role of other family members in children’s literacy practices.

Research aims

This study addresses the paucity of research on emergent literacy practices among low-income Latino families of preschoolers. The goal of this qualitative study is to add to the rich but small body of research that examines how mothers and other family members support young Latino children’s emergent literacy through the practices they engage in. Challenging studies that focus on demographic correlates and family deficits, which limit our understanding of family processes and miss unknown positive practices and behaviours, we use a family resilience framework that punctuates the strengths and resourcefulness of Latino families despite multiple risk factors. Viewing the glass as ‘half-full’ rather than ‘half-empty’, we conducted interviews with 17 low-income Latina mothers of Head Start preschoolers in a Chicago suburb to identify the emergent literacy practices of mothers and other family members. We focus on suburbs since immigrant and non-immigrant Latinos are now settling in the suburbs rather than cities (Lassiter and Niedt, 2013). To the researchers’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to focus on the practices of low-income Latino families residing in the suburbs. Highlighting mothers’ resilience, two main research questions guide this study:

Focusing on mothers’ agency, resourcefulness and strengths, what are the in-home practices that low-income Latina mothers report using to promote their preschoolers’ literacy development?

Recognizing that familismo is a core value among Latino families, which other family members are helping the mother promote her child’s literacy development and what are they doing?

Theoretical framework

We utilized a strength-based, family resilience framework to guide our study of literacy practices among Latino families (Walsh, 2002). The family resilience framework views families as systems and considers how various members collectively work together to survive, if not thrive, in the face of adversity. Given their marginalized status in the U.S., Latinos are especially susceptible to risk factors (Cardoso and Thompson, 2010) that can potentially undermine children’s literacy development. Rejecting a deficit view and irrespective of the many challenges that Latino families face, Latino families demonstrate agency and strength (Bermúdez and Mancini, 2013) in their daily lives by utilizing resources, problem-solving and drawing upon their own culturally based ‘funds of knowledge’ (Moll et al., 1990) to promote their children’s literacy development.

Moving beyond risks and, key to this study, researchers have found that familial support serves as a protective factor for low-income Latino families. Protective factors typically buffer the effects of negative vulnerability, contributing to positive outcomes regardless of risk factors (Bermúdez and Mancini, 2013). Specifically, the subcultural stress of familismo (familism) is the most salient protective factor among Latinos (Cardoso and Thompson, 2010). Familismo is a core value in the life of Latinos and stresses the importance of connectedness and obligation to take care of family members, both nuclear and extended. This strong sense of family orientation and cohesion provides multiple family members as resources for mothers to utilize and assist in young children’s literacy development, as family obligations are shared collectively. Due to the normative commitment of family members to the larger family, family support is a critical factor in children’s academic success (Prelow and Loukas, 2003).

Research design

In this section, we describe the research methodology, followed by the setting, recruitment process and sample. A discussion of the data collection methods and how the data were analysed is explained next. Lastly, managing data quality is discussed.

Methodological approach

This qualitative study was informed by an interpretive approach that explored the meaning-making processes and daily-lived experiences of low-income Latina mothers (Creswell, 2007). This approach privileges the stories of groups that are often marginalized. Moreover, our use of an interpretive framework that considered participants’ lived experiences sensitized us to participant agency, resilience and previously undocumented practices and behaviours (Krumer-Nevo, 2005). In addition to being descriptive, this approach helped us better recognize the richness of families’ practices.

School and neighbourhood setting

Mothers were recruited from the Hazelwood Head Start Program (pseudonym) located in Florence (pseudonym), a northern Chicago suburb. Although Florence is a largely White and wealthy suburb, mothers lived on the outskirts and were physically separated from middle-class families and the broader community. The majority of mothers lived near the highway and in subsidized apartment complexes that were hidden away from the suburb’s main attractions. Mothers were recruited from Head Start because this two-generation, federally funded early childhood programme targets low-income children and their families to promote children’s literacy development as they transition to kindergarten (Office of Head Start, 2018).

Recruitment and sample

A self-identified Latina female researcher who is bilingual (native Spanish speaker) recruited all 17 participants (first author). Mothers were recruited by introducing the project at parent meetings at the school site and by distributing bilingual fliers explaining the project. Purposive sampling was used to recruit all parents (Patton, 1990). Maternal caregivers who met the following criteria were invited to participate: (1) identified as Hispanic/Latino, (2) were at least 18 years of age, (3) had a household income at or lower than 185% of the Federal Poverty Level, and (4) had at least one child at the Hazelwood Head Start who was transitioning to kindergarten. Mothers were the main focus of this study because research has shown that in families of Latino origin, mothers have been described as the primary caregivers of young children. They are also considered socialization agents responsible for maintaining cultural beliefs and values, and structuring the family environment to support and maintain those values (Delgado-Gaitan, 1992; Valdés, 1996). Finally, mothers provided us access to their families. A total of 17 Latina mothers were recruited (see Table 1).

Table 1.

Parent demographics (N = 17).

Participant (target child)	Age	Country of origin/ education	Education	Employment status	Marital status	Language spoken at home	# of children
Adriana (Lesley)^a	28	USA (Mexican descent)	HS/GED	Employed	S	English	2
Alexa (David)	25	Colombia/ USA	SC	Employed/Student	C	English	2
Alicia (Manny)^a	31	Mexico/ USA	SHS	Employed	S	Spanish	2
Amanda (Jax)	41	Colombia/USA	HS/GED	Employed	C	Spanish	1
Delia (Josue)^a	27	El Salvador	Elementary	Unemployed	C	Spanish	1
Fabiola (Javier)^a	33	Mexico	SHS	Employed	C	Spanish	2
Flor (Lucia)^a	33	Mexico	Elementary	Employed	S	Spanish	2
Ingrid (Nayeli)^a	30	Mexico	SHS	Employed	M	Spanish	2
Irene (Kayla)^a	27	Mexico	SHS	Employed	C	Spanish	2
Jocelyn (Alma)	28	Mexico	HS/GED	Employed	S	Spanish	2
Kristina (Kevin)	25	USA (Ecuadorian descent)	SC	Student	C	Bilingual	1
Laura (Isa)^a	38	Ecuador	SC	Employed	M	Spanish	2
Marcela (Daniel)	24	USA (Mexican descent)	SC	Employed	S	English	1
Maribel (Diana)	27	Mexico	HS/GED	Employed	M	Spanish	5
Marisol (Jacob)^a	27	USA (Mexican descent)	HS/GED	Employed	C	Spanish	2
Natalia (Nina)	38	Mexico	HS/GED	Employed	S	Spanish	3
Paulina (Hugo)^a	30	Mexico/USA	HS/GED	Employed	S	Spanish	1

HS/GED: High school/General Education Degree; SC: some college; SHS: some high school; S: single; M: married; C: cohabitating.

Completed interview and photo elicitation.

Data collection

Data collection strategies entailed in-depth qualitative interviews, photo-elicitation interviews and observation.

Interviews

The bilingual Latina researcher who recruited mothers conducted all the interviews. Conversational in nature, the interviews lasted for 60–120 minutes. Thirteen interviews were conducted in Spanish and four in English. Almost all interviews were completed in the parents’ homes.

All interviews were digitally recorded. An interview guide approach with topically organized, open-ended and semi-structured questions was used (Patton, 1990). The interview protocol included questions about mothers’ beliefs and practices related to school readiness and parental involvement, the role of other family members in children’s kindergarten transition, the resources utilized in their neighbourhood, and the role of Head Start (see Supplementary material).

Photo-elicitation interviews

The interviews followed a week-long cycle of activities captured through photographs to gain a richer view of families’ literacy practices. Photo-elicitation interviewing (PEI) entails inserting a photograph into research interviews to invoke responses (Harper, 2002). Regarding mothers as experts, this study used an auto-driven approach (Heisley and Levy, 1991). Specifically, mothers were given a disposable camera and asked to take photos of what they (and other family members) were doing to prepare their child for kindergarten. Once copies of the photos were printed, the researchers sat down with mothers and asked the following questions concerning each photo: Who was in the photo, the location of the photo, the activity in the photo, and why each photo was taken. PEI is particularly useful for understanding hidden family processes, as photographs can highlight the taken-for-granted, often invisible activities that may not emerge in observations or interviews. Mothers who participated in a photo-elicitation interview are noted with a subscript.

Participant observation

The PI conducted observations of the Hazelwood Head Start Center for one year (duration of the study). Participant observation provided opportunities for the researcher to build a rapport prior to conducting the interviews and thus she was able to include these insights in the interviews. Participant observation also provided a broader context in which to interpret participants’ accounts. During her time at the site, she greeted families during drop-off and pick-up times, assisted teachers and staff with tasks they needed (e.g. making copies), facilitated workshops, and attended Head Start events. The majority of the researcher’s observations occurred outside the classroom and focused primarily on building a rapport with parents and staff.

The researcher also had opportunities to spend time with 13 of the families in their homes, where she was able to learn more about family life, family dynamics and the community/housing complexes where they lived. Families received a $20.00 gift certificate for their participation.

Data analysis

Analyses focused on data from the transcribed interviews and field notes. Members of the research team, including the PI, immersed themselves in the data through active reading of transcripts. Thematic analysis was performed on all transcripts. Coding began by using a priori codes (Miles and Huberman, 1994). A priori codes were complemented with new or emergent codes derived from the data (Patton, 1990). We used data displays as a mechanism to aid in data reduction, facilitate interpretation and identify patterns (Miles and Huberman, 1994). Throughout the analysis process, memoing, or writing commentaries on the data, was completed (Charmaz, 2006).

Managing data quality

Several strategies were used to ensure data quality. The protocol questions followed guidelines for good question development (Patton, 1990). A culturally competent Latina female interviewer (first author) who became familiar with the Florence community and who was a native Spanish speaker recruited and conducted all the interviews. The majority of interviews were conducted in parents’ homes, which provided the researcher with an opportunity to see the home literacy environment and further increased the validity and reliability of the interview data.

To ensure the reliability of the data, interviews were transcribed verbatim. Spanish interviews underwent rigorous translation/back-translation by a professional translator. The interviewer (first author) then reviewed both sets of Spanish and English transcripts to confirm that the translations were harmonious. A Spanish interview protocol was developed and adapted through translation/back-translation and reviewed by native Spanish speakers. The research team also used coding by consensus (Hill et al., 2005). Coding by consensus also led to the development of the codebook. We also used data displays, which provided a systematic way to manage large quantities of data and draw valid conclusions (Miles and Huberman, 1994). Member checks were also conducted with study participants and centre staff (Taylor et al., 2015). Multiple sources of information were used for this study, which helped to increase the study’s credibility (Lincoln and Guba, 1985; Patton, 1990). The use of interviews, photographs and observations helped create a more comprehensive account of participants’ perspectives regarding school readiness and literacy practices. All of the data were woven together and considered as parts of a larger puzzle.

Findings

We first present a summary of the observations conducted which provided the context for a better understanding of the interviews. We then present the two broad literacy skills, emergent reading and writing, that mothers targeted through their in-home practices using data from the in-depth interviews and PEI that mainly comprise this study. Next, we report on how other family members were involved.

Observations

As previously stated, observations at Hazelwood focused on building a rapport with parents and staff prior to recruitment. During her time at the site, the interviewer was able to informally converse with parents, further learning the mothers’ language preferences. She was also able to meet and get acquainted with other family members.

Home observations revealed that parents lived within 20–30 minutes from Hazelwood. Each home was personalized with family photographs and memorabilia from their home country. Different types of print material were visible in all homes of families interviewed. They included children’s school-work on dining room tables, kitchen tables and displayed on the fridge, children’s reading books, alphabet, number and shape workbooks, writing books, puzzles, colouring books, markers, crayons, blocks, iPads and calendars from Hazelwood. It is possible that other displays of print may have been present in other rooms of these families’ homes that the researcher did not have access to or were not plainly visible to the researcher. Although the print material varied, there was not one home that did not have learning materials for its children.

Emergent reading skills targeted through in-home practices

We asked mothers: ‘What are some of the things that you are doing to help your child get ready for kindergarten?’ All 17 mothers reported engaging in emergent reading activities at home. Our participants targeted three emergent reading skills as part of their home literacy practices, including shared book reading, alphabet mastery and visiting the library (see Table 2).

Table 2.

In-home emergent reading skills (N = 17).

Parent (target child)	Shared book reading	Alphabet mastery	Visiting the library
Adriana (Lesley)	X	X
Alexa (David)	X	X
Alicia (Manny)	X	X	X
Amanda (Jax)	X	X
Delia (Josue)	X	X
Fabiola (Javier)	X	X
Flor (Lucia)	X	X
Ingrid (Nayeli)	X	X
Irene (Kayla)	X	X	X
Jocelyn (Alma)	X	X
Kristina (Kevin)	X	X	X
Laura (Isa)	X	X	X
Marcela (Daniel)	X	X
Maribel (Diana)	X	X
Marisol (Jacob)	X	X	X
Natalia (Nina)	X	X
Paulina (Hugo)	X	X
Total	17	17	5

Shared book reading

All mothers reported participating in shared-book reading with their preschooler. For example, Fabiola would ask Javier to bring her a book and ‘he would bring it and we read together … I read to him’. Kristina shared that Kevin ‘loves that we read together’. Alicia, who was part of the Raising a Reader¹ program at Hazelwood where preschoolers received a bag with books and who took a photo of Manny ‘reading his favorite book’, said:

We are in his bedroom and we’re reading. He reads and he tells me “Look mom, here it says X” and he says what he thinks it supposedly says [laughs]. He sees the pictures and makes his own story up! I think that will help him to get the habit of reading.

Because ‘Hugo more than anything likes to read,’ Paulina ensures that she always has books available. She said: ‘When we’re in the car, I give him books to entertain him … . In restaurants when we eat out, I always try to have a book for him.’ Paulina’s statement was evident when she proudly explained one of the photos where Hugo was strapped up in his booster seat in the car, reading a book. Paulina also bought him a Kindle so he can practise his reading:

The Kindle is more for reading than playing games … . Right now, he doesn’t know how to read, but if you saw him trying, it looks like he already reads because he imitates it! That’s why I thought it was a good idea to download some books for him.

Adriana, Maribel and Delia reported not only reading to their child, but also participating in dialogic reading. For example, Delia told us that she asks Josue questions while she reads to him. She said: ‘I ask him “What is the boy doing?” And he tells me “he’s playing, he’s sleeping” … things like that’. To support their young child’s reading comprehension, Diana and Lesley utilize recall prompts, which require the child to remember specific details from the story and open-ended prompts, or statements of questions that encourage responses in the child’s own words. When Diana brings Maribel books to read and they read together, at the end of the book, Maribel asks Diana ‘to tell me what the book is about’. In addition to asking ‘what’ questions, Adriana asks Lesley to re-tell the story:

When we read, I’ll ask her to use her imagination and I’ll ask her, “What do you think is going to happen next?” I also have Lesley read the story back to me so she always reads it back to us and whatever she remembers, she’ll say it, if not, she’ll make it up [laughs]!

Several mothers reported having numerous books in the home that they used to read to their child. With the assistance of Laura’s sister and family friends, Isa had plenty of books to choose from, which were proudly depicted in Laura’s photo elicitation pictures: ‘Isa’s Aunt sends us books and we read those to her. She also receives books for her birthday … . Her gifts are always books, all the time books, books, books [laughs]. We have so many books!’ Similarly, Paulina reported: ‘I read to Hugo, he reads to me, we change all the time … we have a lot of books. He doesn't need more [laughs]’. Although Kristina reported that Kevin does not know how to read yet, he has a ‘bookshelf full of books’ that they use.

Mothers’ accounts suggest the timing and frequency of shared book reading. Out of the 17 mothers, seven mothers reported reading to their child before bedtime. For example, Marisol, who was also part of the Raising a Reader programme, reads ‘to Jacob at night’. On a similar note, Kristina shared that ‘I read to Kevin before going to bed.’ Alexa, who also ‘reads a lot to David’, said: ‘I have been into Harry Potter [laughs] and David would be “read it to me!” So I read it to him until he falls asleep.’ Through the use of photographs, we learned that Adriana and Lesley ‘read every night’: ‘I feel like it will help her read. I think she’ll catch on and it’ll help her. Because we were sounding them out too so I think like it’ll just help her with reading.’

Low English fluency did not hinder mothers from reading to their child. Rather, mothers were creative and used book drawings and other forms of literacy material to engage their child in reading. For example, Delia said: ‘We read the books they give us here [Hazelwood], but they are in English and I cannot read them so I only look at the pictures. … The pictures not the words guide me.’ Ingrid tried diligently to read the English books that were given by Hazelwood, using book artwork to depict what was happening. She told us:

If we read, we do it in Spanish, but they only gave us books in English so that kinda limits me … But I try my best. I never say, “Because I don't know how to read in English I am not going to read to he,” I just do it. I make an effort. I try my best. With the words I don’t understand I just make them up with the drawings.

Amanda, who hasn’t been able to ‘find a lot of Spanish books to read to Jax’, used the Spanish Bible to read to him: ‘I read Jax Bible stories for kids every night before bed.’ Ingrid, Amanda and Flor believed that if they had more Spanish books they would ‘read more often’.

Mothers were occasionally challenged in their efforts to read with their child and developed strategies to address them. Jocelyn said that Alma is ‘impatient’ while reading: ‘We sit together to read … sometimes she doesn’t let me finish the stories. She just changes the pages [laughs]’. Likewise, Marcela felt that Daniel was unfocused while they read. She said:

I kinda want him to just focus more on the actual activity we’re doing [reading] because he seems to get distracted and he’s a little hyper sometimes. I try to have him follow with his finger, so he can try to familiarize himself with the words we’re reading.

Alphabet mastery

In this study, all mothers reported helping their child master the alphabet through print referencing. Irene shared that she is working with Kayla to identify each letter of the alphabet. She said:

The thing that she knows how to do is to identify the letters of her name; if you write something else with those letters she can’t identify them … so I’m working with her on helping her learn all her letters, not just the ones in her name.

Marcela reported that she does a ‘random letter and word a day’ to help Daniel ‘identify his letters’. She told us:

Daniel likes animals, so I relate the letters and words to an animal because he learns it faster that way. So like “B” for “Bat”. I bought him the bat and I taught him the word and then I’ll have it next to him while we’re doing the letters.

Similarly, Kristina was helping Kevin sound the letters:

I ask him “how does this letter sound?” He’s like “ta ta.” Now when he says a word, I ask him: “give me a word with the letter ‘T’” and he’ll say “Turtle, to” and he is like “ta ta.”

In this study, we found that mothers utilized different types of materials to help their child identify and recognize their ABC. Several mothers used flashcards. Natalia told us: ‘Right now I am teaching Nina with letter flashcards. To be honest, I am only working with letters.’ Alicia shared how she was helping Manny identify and sound the letters:

He knows the ABC but only the song. I tell him “don't sing; we can't sing all the time. We are not going to sing. Now, we are going to pronounce.” So I show him that “M” [on the card] is for “Manny.”

Paulina used large flashcards, which were laid out across the living room floor in one of the photographs she shared: ‘Right now we are working on recognizing his letters. We have flashcards with letters, and I ask, “what’s the name of this letter?”’ Delia also sat with Josue to ‘study with him’: ‘I buy the letters [flashcards] to teach him those, so he can see them’.

Two mothers, Jocelyn and Fabiola, reported helping their child identify their letters by having them write in a notebook. Jocelyn tells Alma ‘to do her ABC in a special notebook’ she bought at the Dollar Store. Fabiola was proud of Javier’s growing skills. However, she still teaches him the letters. She said: ‘Sometimes I give him blank sheets, and he makes his letters. … I teach him the letters. He knows his basics, but sometimes I have to tell him “Put the tablet down and practise your letters,” and he does it.’

Other mothers utilized arts & crafts materials, telephones, an iPad, boards and puzzles to help their child master the alphabet. Maribel worked to teach Diana her letters by ‘gluing letters together’.

Ingrid, who sits down with Nayeli for ‘20 minutes to practise her letters’ every day, used her phone:

I don’t know a lot of English, but at home I get my phone and I study with them. Right now I ask her, “Sweetie, tell me where the A, E or I are?” She doesn’t know them now, but I am teaching her. We still have time … that way she will know more and not only ABCD.

Marisol ‘downloads educational games’ for Jacob on an iPad he’s been using: ‘If he finds something that he likes and wants to download it, like ABCYa, that’s for the alphabet, I do.’ Adriana utilized a ‘chalkboard and easel’ to help Lesley ‘practise her alphabet’. She said: ‘I just go one by one and tell her to tell me what they are and then she’ll tell me. She really likes it … . She gets excited!’ Alicia bought Manny an alphabet Styrofoam puzzle to help him with his letters, which she proudly explained when going over one of her many photos:

We were doing puzzles and he was practising his letters. He has more problems with letters than shapes, but with these puzzles I tell him, where is the “A”? And he looks for “A” … but if I ask him to tell me the alphabet, he says it as a song [laughs].

Visiting the library

Five mothers reported helping their child get ready for school through library visits. For example, Laura illustrated: ‘I take her to the library every Monday. We get them books to read at home … . It’s a treat for them when they behave.’ Marisol had a similar response. She said: ‘We also go to together to the library, his dad, him and I … if he likes the books, we take them home, and we read them to him at night’. Alicia had a different experience: ‘I tried to take him to the library, but it was a disaster [laughs]. I wanted him to be more interested in the books, but he was far more interested in the toys.’

Some parents faced obstacles to regular library visits. For example, Irene reported that her job got in the way: ‘It’s rare we go to the library because of my job. I work a lot.’ When Kevin was born, Kristina and her family lived next to a library, which they frequented often. However, the family moved and lived several miles from a library at the time of this study. She said: ‘We used to go to the library a lot … . When he was younger he had all these opportunities, but now we’re too far away.’

Emergent writing skills targeted through in-home practices

Sixteen mothers reported engaging in emergent writing activities at home (see Table 3).

Table 3.

In-home emergent writing skills (N = 16).

Parent (target child)	Writes	Draws/Traces	Spells
Adriana (Lesley)	X
Alexa (David)	X		X
Alicia (Manny)	X
Amanda (Jax)	X	X
Delia (Josue)	X
Fabiola (Javier)	X
Flor (Lucia)	X	X
Ingrid (Nayeli)	X	X
Irene (Kayla)	X	X
Jocelyn (Alma)	X
Kristina (Kevin)	X	X
Laura (Isa)	X
Marcela (Daniel)	X		X
Maribel (Diana)		X
Marisol (Jacob)	X	X
Paulina (Hugo)	X	X	X
Total	15	8	3

Writes own name and letters/words

Fifteen mothers reported helping their child write their own name or letters/words. Paulina helped Hugo get ready for kindergarten by ‘telling him to write his name out’. Marisol kept Jacob busy while she worked by having him sit beside her as he practised writing his name. She said:

Sometimes he asks me to teach him things, I try to teach him to write his name, to hold the pencil properly. … For his name, I bought him a special notebook where he can write his name. I sit him beside me to make his page of names.

Irene told us that Kayla can identify the letters in her name but has trouble writing them. She said: ‘I tell her, “Your name is Kayla, write the letter “K” and then the letter “A.”” She can identify them but doesn’t write them properly. She tries, but it’s always twisted.’ Although Manny ‘already knows how to write his name’, Alicia still insists that he practise. She said: ‘I have him write his name on a piece of paper. He writes it beautifully!’ Unlike Manny, who wrote beautifully, Alma still needed more practice, which Jocelyn was well aware of. She shared: ‘She writes her name and I can understand it, but if someone else tries to read it it’s impossible! She doesn’t write clearly yet, so I have her practise.’ Like Alicia and Jocelyn, Amanda also worked with Jax: ‘I tell him, “Let’s practise how to write your name.”’

Mothers also assisted their child in writing words besides their name. For example, Kristina told us:

Writing is important. So, we sit down and do three worksheets at least three times a week. I try to do three because they are so easy and he does them so fast that if I only do one he will be done in like two minutes. … Kevin writes really well his letters. He is good.

Along the same lines, Laura said: ‘Sometimes Isa wants to make a card for her brother and she tells me what she wants the card to say … I show her how to write and tell her each letter.’ Alexa also helped David write words besides his name. She said: ‘He’s shown an interest in writing words, not just his name. David will ask me, “How do you write I love you?” So, I help him write it.’ Flor also asked Lucia to not only ‘write her name’ but also ‘write the alphabet and numbers out’. Ingrid was also helping Nayeli learn to write:

I have her practise her letters, and teach her how to hold the pencil, but she is more interested in the phone. … I tell her “Sweetie, you have to practise more, you have to write your letters, or draw some lines and circles at least.”

Mothers reported using multiple teaching tools to help their preschoolers learn to write. Fabiola used blank sheets: ‘I give him blank sheets, and he makes [writes] his letters.’ Delia bought Josue a piece of ‘cardboard’ from the Dollar Store and taped it to her wall so he could ‘keep practising writing his numbers, words and letters’. The glued cardboard in the living room was evident in several photographs where Josue proudly displayed his work. Marcela utilized ‘a whiteboard and a chalkboard in Daniel’s room’ to help him write: ‘I’ll write a word, and I’ll try to have him copy it, and then if he has a hard time, I’ll use my hand and kinda guide him with it.’

When we asked Adriana how she was helping prepare Lesley for kindergarten, she told us: ‘I encourage her to write simple words on the blackboard. I do simple words with her to try to get her to learn. Or I’ll tell her to write like letters that she remembers from the alphabet or shapes.’ We were able to further see how Lesley used her portable blackboard easel to write words such as ‘cat’ through the photographs that Adriana shared with us. Similarly, Marisol captured Jacob using his iPad to help him write: ‘This is Jacob on his tablet. He knows how to write his name there.’

Draws and traces

Seven mothers reported helping their child to either draw or trace. Four mothers in particular focused on drawing. Amanda shared: ‘I tell Jax, “Sweetie, lets draw or practise the numbers, letters,” and we do it.’ Maribel told us that she ‘draws with Diana’: ‘She makes some drawings for her father and I help her.’ Drawing together is an everyday activity for Irene and Kayla: ‘In her free time, Kayla likes to draw. So we draw together every day.’ Jacob also enjoys drawing. Marisol said: ‘He brings crayons to draw, and I tell him “color this red or green”.’

Two mothers, Kristina and Flor, reported tracing with their child. Kristina said: ‘I know we do homework like kindergarten stuff, tracing letters … stuff like that we do at home’. Because Lucia has trouble writing, Flor has her practise tracing: ‘I write down the name of her sister and she copies it. There are some letters that she cannot write yet, but she tries to copy them.’ Insights from Flor’s and Paulina’s photographs further illustrate preschoolers drawing. Lucia was pictured sitting at the kitchen table ‘using the drawing book that’s for tracing’. Explaining one of the pictures that Paulina took of Hugo where he was seen drawing on a green sticky note, she said:

There he is at my workplace. He takes the sticky notes and puts them on the wall. He writes on them … right now he’s drawing a lot of stick people and gives them to my customers [laughs]. He draws something different for each one of them.

Paulina also shared that Hugo made his own book full of drawings: ‘Not long ago he made a book with paper sheets, like 5 or 6…. He draws and then explains the story very well … he is very imaginative and I like that he puts it into practice.’

One of Ingrid’s photographs also depicted Nayeli lying on the living room carpet tracing over her name on a notebook, which Ingrid had written for her.

I make her practise. In this picture I made [wrote] those numbers, and it looks like the alphabet, too. I wrote the alphabet and told her “Look sweetie, you have to do this below what I write,” but she doesn’t understand yet.

Spelling

Three mothers reported helping their child with spelling. Alexa shared with us that David was interested in spelling words, which she helps him do. She said: ‘Lately he’s been asking how to spell things and asks me “How do you spell cat?” And I’m like “Okay, what does cat begin with?”’ Like Alexa, Marcela was keen on helping Daniel spell: ‘We’re learning how to spell like three-letter words right now. I know he’s still early, but I really want him to learn how to spell words.’ Paulina also wanted Hugo to spell. She said: ‘I ask him to write his name but more than anything to spell it. I want him to know which letters and all of that.’

Using extended kin as support

Mothers were asked, ‘Who are some of the people helping you to get your child ready for kindergarten?’ We further probed, asking mothers what each literacy assistant was doing to help them. In addition to their own reported home literacy activities, 14 mothers described support from other family members (see Table 4).

Table 4.

In-home maternal assistants (N = 14).

Parent (target child)	Fathers	Older siblings	Grandparents	Uncle	Cousin	Trusted friend
Adriana (Lesley)	X	X
Amanda (Jax)	X
Delia (Josue)	X
Fabiola (Javier)	X
Flor (Lucia)		X
Ingrid (Nayeli)	X
Irene (Kayla)	X
Jocelyn (Alma)	X
Kristina (Kevin)			X
Laura (Isa)		X				X
Marcela (Daniel)			X		X
Maribel (Diana)	X
Marisol (Jacob)	X
Paulina (Hugo)				X
Total	9	3	2	1	1	1

Fathers

Nine mothers said husbands or companions who were also children’s fathers were a source of support. Fathers assisted with both emergent reading and emergent writing skills.

Fathers supporting emergent reading skills

Eight mothers reported that their husbands/companions assisted with emergent reading skills. These skills entailed: shared book reading, storytelling and helping children learn new words.

Shared book reading

Participating in shared-book-reading was an important activity that eight fathers engaged in. Delia shared that ‘Edwin reads with Josue’. When Irene prepares meals, her husband Eduardo helps Kayla: ‘He reads with Kayla … so I cook, and they read together.’ When Jocelyn and her partner Caleb lived together, she told us: ‘Caleb and Alma used to read books together.’ Depending on Kevin’s mood, Kristina told us ‘Chris likes to read to him.’ Maribel disclosed that Diana’s father ‘loves to be with her and helps her. … They read a lot.’ Fathers’ limited knowledge of English did not hinder their ability to read with their children. Adriana’s husband Gabriel ‘reads to Lesley, but in Spanish’. Fabiola’s husband, who is more confident in his English ability, reads to Javier: ‘Gustavo reads more books to Javier since all the books are in English.’ Work schedules sometimes constrained fathers’ availability to read with their children. For example, due to Berto’s work schedule, Marisol was the one who mostly did the reading: ‘I read to him more because my husband works a double shift at night.’

Storytelling

Two fathers participated in storytelling with their preschoolers. Amanda proudly told us: ‘Jaime tells Jax a lot of stories … stories about cartoons from long ago. He tells him stories that this one did that, this one does the other, things I don’t pay attention to [laughs].’ Delia, whose husband works as a mechanic, tells Josue ‘stories’ about ‘how many cars he has’.

Learning new words

Adriana admitted that her husband ‘focuses more on Spanish’ than she does and told us: ‘He’ll teach her a word randomly throughout the day, and then he’ll be like “Do you know what this means? It means this in Spanish.” He’ll go out of his way to help Lesley with her words in Spanish.’

Fathers supporting emergent writing skills

Three mothers described how fathers assisted with emergent writing skills, which entailed helping children to write and draw. Maribel said: ‘My husband does a lot of activities to teach Diana things … . He helps her write and they draw a lot together.’ Delia told us that her husband helps Josue ‘write his letters’. Although Arturo did a non-standard job, he still played an important role in Nayeli’s emergent literacy development. Ingrid shared the following:

Even though he doesn’t spend a lot of time with the children, Arturo is the one that bought Nayeli the notebook and the pencils. He’s also the one that tells them to write on the chalkboard that his friend gave to the kids as a gift.

Older siblings

Three mothers, Adriana, Flor and Laura, reported that their older children helped their preschooler to read. Lesley’s older brother, Jesus, was pictured reading to Lesely in the living room before bed: ‘He reads to her at night before bed. Sometimes he picks books that are kinda hard for him so if he can read it, then he’ll read it and then she likes it because it’s her big brother.’ Explaining about one of her pictures of her two children reading, Laura said: ‘Isa is sitting with her brother while he reads. I think it’s important that she reads with him … . If she sees him reading then she will also like to read.’ Because Flor cannot read in English, older sister Eleanora would help Lucia read: ‘Eleanora is the one that helps her the most … . She reads her books. When Lucia gets a new book, Eleanora reads with her.’ Helping the preschooler with her alphabet knowledge was another activity that Eleanora assisted with. Describing a photograph that Flor took of Lucia, Flor said:

Here she is cutting one letter and moving it to the other side of the paper … . She is putting the letters together. Eleanora asks her which letter is what and because she doesn’t know the names yet, she only touches the letter and that’s it.

Similar to emergent reading skills, Flor and Adriana said that their older children also helped their preschooler learn to write through drawing. Flor shared: ‘When they have a new colouring book, Eleanora and Lucia draw in it and colour together. Lucia is learning how to colour better and know her colours because she can see Eleanora do it so she can do the same’. This was clearly manifested through Flor’s photographs, most of which were of Eleanora and Lucia drawing and colouring together. Similarly, Adriana told us that Lesley and Jesus ‘draw a lot together’: ‘He’ll take the easel out sometimes and then he’ll just start drawing on there with her, or he’ll start telling her “Ok, now it’s your turn. Draw this,” and then she’ll draw it.’ Laura’s photos depict her son drawing and colouring with Isa. She said: ‘They like to colour books together … Julian tells her to paint the drawing in a different way (laughs). She accepts the suggestions from her brother’.

Cousin

Close in age like a sibling, Marcela’s eight-year-old nephew, who lived with them, helped Daniel get ready for kindergarten. She shared the following:

They will sit down and do activities together. Anthony will read to him … we’ll have duplicate copies of the same book so everyone can have one, and he’ll just follow along, and then if they’re ever stuck on a word, they’ll ask, and we’ll give them a definition.

Marcela believed that this activity was helping Daniel understand what the words mean, giving him the ability to use this later as Daniel ‘has a really good memory’. Anthony is also teaching Daniel ‘how to spell different things’.

Uncle

Paulina shared with us that her older brother Sebastian, who she and Hugo lived with and whom she referred to as Hugo’s ‘second dad’, was actively engaged in Hugo’s life. She said: ‘Sebastian has him read and when he has the time he takes him to the library. He takes him out a lot, and they do a lot of fun activities together.’

Grandparents

Two mothers reported that their mothers would also assist in getting their child ready for kindergarten. Kristina shared with us that since Kevin is a ‘big reader’, her mom will take him to the library: ‘Whenever there’s an activity going on at the library, Yolanda will take him with her … . They would go every Tuesday since we lived a block away and it was the summer. He loved it.’ Now that they’ve moved, they don’t go as often since it’s far away: ‘He’ll now ask me if they are going to the library and I tell him, “Yes, we are going,” but we don’t because it’s so far.’ Marcela’s mother Florencia liked to teach Daniel Spanish. She reported the following: ‘She’ll talk to him in Spanish and then she’ll teach him how to say words in Spanish and then she’ll quiz him after.’

Trusted friend (babysitter)

Although not a biological family member, Laura considered Betty, Isa’s babysitter, a trusted family member. Laura shared the following about Betty, a 62-year-old White American who was Isa’s babysitter and who spends most of the time with them, appearing in several photographs: ‘She reads to them mostly in English every day. They like to colour books together … they also identify objects and practise the first letter of the word from each object found in her brother's homework and practice.’

Discussion

The purpose of this qualitative study was to add to the limited research on how mothers and other family members with multiple demographic risk factors support Latino preschoolers’ emergent literacy through the practices they engaged in. Challenging research that views Latino families as deficient in their literacy practices, we used a family resilience approach and intentionally focused on family agency, resourcefulness and the subcultural role of familismo. Through the use of this framework and multiple qualitative methodologies that privileged mothers’ voices and experiences, the findings presented here provide evidence that when we view Latino families through a strength-and asset-based lens, we unearth resilient family processes and highlight previously unknown positive practices and behaviours.

Several key findings emerged. First, challenging studies that focus on demographic correlates that limit our understanding of family processes and family strengths, we found that regardless of their culture, economic status or education levels, Latino families value literacy skills by engaging in a range of literacy-related activities that represent developmental precursors to formal reading and writing (Whitehurst and Lonigan, 1998). We hypothesize that mothers’ focus on specific literacy areas reflected their beliefs about what skills were important for kindergarten, as well as their understanding of their child’s abilities (or lack thereof). While other studies have found that shared book-reading is not a common practice among low-income Latino families (Goldenberg et al., 1992; Raikes et al., 2006; Reese and Gallimore, 2000), all the mothers in this study read to their children. Shared book-reading has been associated with skills in vocabulary, phonemic awareness, print concept knowledge and positive attitudes towards literacy (Raikes et al., 2006; Snow and Dickinson, 1990). We believe that mothers read to their child in part because it is heavily promoted by Head Start (Office of Head Start, 2018), resulting in mothers being encouraged and reminded to read with their child. Some comparative studies have found that Latina mothers do not typically read before bedtime (Hale et al., 2009), but we found that several mothers reported reading to their child before bed. These mothers were mainly born in the U.S. or completed their education in the U.S., possibly exposing them to American norms regarding bedtime routines. For mothers who did not report bedtime reading, it is possible that they instead engaged in oral narratives and stories that are more prevalent in immigrant homes (Delgado-Gaitan, 1990). Although we did not ask about the number of books in the home, our findings are consistent with other researchers who found that Latino children do have access to and are exposed to books at home (Bridges et al., 2015; Lynch, 2008; Perry et al., 2008). While mothers did expose children to books, several mothers reported having trouble accessing books in Spanish and only receiving books in English from Hazelwood, leading us to believe that they mainly had books in English. We hypothesize that mothers had trouble finding children’s books in Spanish because of where they were situated: a largely White, middle-class suburb. While the population of Latinos at Florence has been slowly rising each year, we believe it has yet to accommodate to newcomers who are culturally and linguistically different from its main population. For example, the main library located next to Hazelwood carried very few books in Spanish and had staff that only spoke English. Considering that the majority of mothers in this sample did not speak English, we hypothesize that mothers felt intimidated by their lack of English ability and avoided the library. This may also be the reason why so few mothers reported taking their child to the library. Although we did not directly ask mothers what language they used in literacy activities, demographic data collected from mothers before the interview revealed that the majority of mothers spoke Spanish at home (see Table 1). In addition to mothers’ responses, and observations from the school and home, we believe that mothers mainly read to their child and engaged in literacy activities in the language spoken at home (majority Spanish). We hypothesize that mothers saw reading in Spanish as beneficial to their children, keeping them closer to their own language and culture. Spanish-speaking mothers may not have worried about the use of Spanish at home since they knew their child was being exposed to English in Head Start. Regardless of the mother’s language (Spanish or English), young Latino children were still developing literacy skills in their home environments. Similar to other studies (Lynch, 2008), mothers engaged in fewer writing activities than reading activities with their children.

Our second significant contribution is that unlike previous studies that focused on the frequency of literacy activities and related outcomes, this study goes further by accessing intimate family worlds and identifying instructional practices and specific tools used by Latino families that promoted children’s literacy. First, we found that mothers read out loud to their children. Reading out loud to children has been found to increase children’s vocabulary (Sénéchal and Young, 2008), listening comprehension skills (Teale, 1986) and their ability to recognize words. Consistent with findings from Perry et al. (2008), we found that some Latina mothers engaged in dialogic reading strategies, which encourage the child to become an active learner during book-reading (De Temple and Snow, 2003). Mothers also participated in print referencing when helping their child with alphabet knowledge by calling the child’s attention to important aspects of the text, including its forms, features and functions (Justice and Ezell, 2004). A few families also reported engaging in phonological awareness activities, which give children the awareness and ability to reflect on the sounds in spoken words (Evans and Shaw, 2008).

Contrary to studies that suggest Latino children live in homes that are ‘literacy deficient’, our findings show that mothers provided diverse home learning materials to their child. Children had access to an array of learning materials at home, including reading books, flashcards, workbooks and blackboards. Access to home learning materials has been shown to benefit children’s pre-academic skills (Purcell-Gates, 1996). With respect to learning technology tools (Hutchison et al., 2012), parents were exposed to computers in their children’s classrooms. Yet, no parents mentioned owning a computer or laptop and neither were visible in the homes the researcher visited. E-books were also not reported by any parent. However, a handful of parents described having tablets. For those who had access to this technology, free educational Apps were downloaded for children to engage in (e.g. ABCYa). It is likely that families in this study did not have computers or laptops in the home because they could not afford them. Similarly, one has to pay to access E-books, which could explain why parents did not report using them. Further, tablets and other learning technologies as tools for learning literacy is a recent phenomenon for both families and teachers (Hutchison et al., 2012). It is also possible that these families do not yet see the benefit of the multiple learning technologies available for their preschoolers’ learning and view their activities more as play. More generally, we believe that Head Start exposed families to an assortment of learning materials that supported children’s literacy development but also stressed the importance of how families can provide affordable and age-appropriate literacy-rich environments.

Our third major contribution is that this study adds to the limited literature on what nuclear and extended family members, and close family friends are doing to support children’s literacy development (Lynch, 2008; Volk, 2017). Consistent with Lynch (2008), we found that fathers participated in more literacy practices than other family members. Specifically, fathers mainly assisted with shared book-reading. We also found that some fathers capitalized on their funds of knowledge and engaged in oral storytelling with their children. Work by Reese et al. (1995) suggests that when Latino fathers support mothers with children’s learning, it helps creates conditions in the home supportive of academic achievement. This study also contributes to the limited research on siblings that is available in the U.S. (see Dockett and Perry, 2013; Gregory, 1998). We found that older siblings engaged in both emergent reading and writing practices with the target child.

Finally, in line with the family resilience framework, our data provides a portrait of the agency of low-income Latina mothers in supporting children’s development by engaging children in various literacy practices. We show that mothers were resilient despite having various demographic risk factors that cast them as deficient. For example, mothers did not allow their limited English to deter them from reading to their child. Instead, mothers were creative with their strategies and used available resources such as a Spanish Bible to read, or used their mobilephone to aid in translations. This study also found that mothers exhibited resource-seeking skills. First, mothers were resourceful by seeking assistance from available family members who served as protective factors, further promoting children’s literacy development. Mothers were also resourceful by seeking out Head Start for themselves and their children. Numerous studies have shown the benefits of Head Start attendance, particularly for students who are considered to be at-risk (Raikes et al., 2006). Lastly, the use of a family resilience framework highlighted familismo. Empirical investigations of low-income Latino families have described familismo as a protective factor in which family obligations are shared collectively (see Padilla and Villalobos, 2007), protecting Latino children from experiencing an unsuccessful transition to kindergarten.

Implications

A variety of implications emerged from this work on U.S. families with Head Start preschoolers residing in a Chicago suburb. First, the research findings from this study suggest that a family resilience approach is an important lens for studying low-income racially diverse families. Compared to a deficit-based approach that emphasizes demographic risk factors, a resilience approach encourages researchers to consider the depth of difference that exists among families across cultures and recognize the multiple literacy practices that occur within these families. These differences should not be considered deficits but strengths that can be used to enhance home–school partnerships across various ethno-cultural groups.

Second, our findings reveal highly engaged and resilient families who should be considered valued collaborators by U.S. educators. Early childhood educators like Head Start can further capitalize on these activities rather than trying to modify them. In other words, they should recognize the breadth of social and cultural capital that families bring to the table by using a strength-based approach that places more emphasis on building families’ ‘funds of knowledge’. While honouring the wealth of knowledge that Latino families possess, educators can bridge what is known to children with new materials and ideas that continue to support low-income Latino children’s literacy knowledge. Further, educators can begin to incorporate the richness of children’s lives into their curriculum, as previous research documents that Latino children will learn better when their teachers integrate their home and community values into the classroom (Goldenberg et al., 1992).

Due to familismo being a core cultural value for Latinos, it is imperative that schools and literacy programmes include all family members in their curricula. This is important since we found that nuclear, extended and fictive family members are actively involved in Latino children’s educational development. Notably, this research highlights the prominent role of Latino fathers.

Finally, this study has implications for families using Head Start in predominantly White suburbs. As research suggests, neighbourhoods have the possibility to influence children’s development in the quality of resources available (Leventhal and Brooks-Gunn, 2000). While Head Start programmes can act as institutional resources for low-income families, we believe Hazelwood was not fully equipped to culturally and linguistically support families. Head Starts in these mainly White spaces with recent newcomers need to be more attuned to the cultural and linguistic needs of the families they serve. A small but significant first step could be for centres to make Spanish literacy materials available. Head Start centres should also strive to hire teachers who are bilingual.

Limitations

Some limitations characterize this study. The sample is small, limiting our ability to generalize our findings. Only mothers were interviewed, and it is possible that mothers who agreed to participate in the study were more active than mothers who did not agree to participate. Mothers were also only interviewed once. There might exist some variation in study findings if parents were observed more than once. We also did not ask what language families used in literacy activities, limiting our understanding of the role of language in children’s literacy development. Further, because mothers were recruited from one unique suburban setting, our findings probably differ from families living in other suburban settings. Sample families were enrolled in Head Start, and our study probably focused on the more resilient families in the community (Jarrett et al., 2015; Jarrett and Coba-Rodriguez, 2019).

Although the majority of the mothers in our study self-identified as Latino, with the majority being Mexican, their responses do not represent all families of Mexican descent, much less all Latino families. While we understand that cultural diversity exists across Latino populations, due to the small sample size, this study could not explore subcultural differences that may have existed within our sample of Mexican, Colombian, Ecuadorian and Salvadoran mothers.

Future research

Future quantitative research should address in-home literacy topics identified in this study with diverse, large-scale Latino samples. Researchers should also recruit from multiple Head Starts to expand the generalizability of their findings further. Studies should include samples of local Latino families who do not utilize Head Start to determine if they differ in their literacy practices and access to kin when compared to families who do utilize Head Start services. Because Latinos are more likely to be family-oriented and have stronger ties of loyalty and reciprocity relative to other ethnic groups, interviews with other family members who help mothers prepare preschoolers for school are needed. We suggest interviews with nuclear, extended and fictive kin. Researchers should also note the language that families use when engaging with children. More qualitative studies that use multiple data collection strategies, such as interviews, photos and observations, can help uncover resilient family practices that otherwise would be missed. Finally, research on Latino families living in suburban neighbourhoods as opposed to inner-city ethnic enclaves warrants researchers’ attention. Future research can allow us to know more about how such settings afford or constrain the resources available to families and children.

Supplemental Material

ecl901822_supplemental_material Supplemental material - Supplemental material for An investigation of the perspectives of low-income Latina mothers with preschoolers transitioning to kindergarten

Supplemental material, ecl901822_supplemental_material Supplemental material for An investigation of the perspectives of low-income Latina mothers with preschoolers transitioning to kindergarten by Sarai Coba-Rodriguez Robin L Jarrett in Journal of Early Childhood Literacy

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

Members of the Ethnographic Research Lab in the Department of Human and Community Development at UIUC contributed to the initial phase of this research project, including bibliographic searches, literature reviews, Spanish-English transcriptions and preliminary analyses. Azucena C Lopez assisted with the Spanish-English translations. Members of the Diverse Families & School Readiness Lab in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) also contributed to this project. Angelo Calero, Adriana Antunez and Rosa Mariscal assisted with literature reviews searched and reference editing. Heather McLeer provided editorial assistance. We gratefully acknowledge the enthusiastic involvement of our participants and Hazelwood Head Start, who made this study possible.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 600111793 000 793369, the University of Illinois Public Engagement Grant, and the University of Illinois Chancellor’s Public Engagement Grant.

ORCID iD

Sarai Coba-Rodriguez

Supplemental material

Supplemental material for this article is available online.

Note

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