Positive Relationships: Working with parents - As you like it

Recently I was watching 'rhyme time' in a nursery that I visit regularly. The teacher pulled a star from a bag and started to sing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' with the group. A little girl called out, with the kind of excitement that only comes from recognition of the familiar, 'My Mummy's got that on her iPod.'

In the same nursery, the teacher has given out scrapbooks to the parents, before the children join, so that they can complete the first few pages with information about their child that they feel is important to share. I was privileged to be allowed to look through them and glimpse what it means to be young and literate in the 21st century. They included contributions such as these:

'Billy loves his dad's iPhone and is very good at using it. He can even take photos and make films.'

'Grace likes reading, hats, playing in the garden, Peppa Pig and Phineas and Ferb.'

'James loves "The Lion King". He has watched it 67 times. Mummy and Daddy do not like it so much any more!'

From these brief insights, it is clear that literacy in the 21st century is complex and, for me at any rate, rather exciting. The little girl's recognition of a familiar tune on an iPod should be no less valued than if it had been heard anywhere else.

Equally, the information so readily shared by these parents, without fear of judgement or castigation, should be invaluable for helping the nursery staff provide relevant and meaningful experiences for the children while they are there. What could this look like?

For James, perhaps we need some books with jungle animals in them - good quality non-fiction as well as stories. Maybe we could provide a storybox that contains some of the characters from 'The Lion King', which he could use to tell stories of his own. Billy could learn to use the setting's digital camera, and make some books of his own, or look at his images on the interactive whiteboard.

As for Grace, the possibilities are clearly rich and varied, but one would have to wonder if Peppa Pig and Phineas and Ferb are anywhere to be seen in most educational environments. At the very least, they need to be represented in the book corner, nestled among the other books that we want the children to enjoy.

ALTERNATIVE VIEW

Of course, there is an alternative view. When looking at this evidence of home-based literacy practices we could sit around, breathe a heavy sigh and bemoan the state of today's children, cast adrift from the experiences that we valued as youngsters, at sea in a world that is too full of technological gadgets which seem to detract from the old-fashioned pleasures of our apparently oh-so-perfect youth.

If this is our view, then the children miss out. It's as simple as that.

Looking through the rose-tinted spectacles of nostalgia can sometimes blind us to the realities of growing up in the 21st century. It is all too easy to be persuaded by prophets of doom, when in reality we should be questioning what they tell us and, most importantly, making it our professional business to know and understand the reality for the children and families with whom we work.

Let's look carefully at one such commonly reported story - the apparent link between television watching and obesity. First, it is surely common sense to understand that television watching alone could not cause obesity. Second, while most research associates the watching of television with the consumption of junk food, surely it is not beyond the realms of possibility that children and their families could consume junk food while reading a book (which, incidentally, is also a relatively motionless activity)!

It is, however, unlikely that we will ever see a report published that associates reading with obesity, because books are seen as traditionally more valuable than media texts. We could debate this long and hard, but the simple truth is that for most of us, our literacy practices are a potent blend of a wide range of texts - it's never a simple choice between one and another.

BEDTIME RITUALS

For me the problem lies in the valuing of certain literacy practices over others without considering the implications of doing this. The ritual of bedtime story is an excellent example. I was fortunate to have always had this experience as a child, but my mother was not out at work, and did not have to collect me and my brother and sister from the nursery or childminder, then get home, cook the evening meal and make sure that everything was ready for the following morning when she maybe dropped us off very early before going to work.

Yes, in an ideal world, all children would have a bedtime story every evening. There is absolutely no doubt about the value of this in supporting language development of all kinds. However, perhaps we should remember why this ideal might be difficult to achieve.

Think about households where both parents work and where, if children are of school age, the pressure to 'do the reading book' (which is often of poor quality and no substitute for a wonderful picture book, let alone a well-made children's TV programme) is such that other reading goes by the board.

I know from talking to large numbers of parents that pressures are immense and quality time at home can be limited. These pressures are only increased if parents are made to feel like failures because they do not conform to some mythical ideal.

BE HONEST

We also need to examine our own knowledge honestly and openly before criticising apparent gaps in that of both children and parents. 'They don't know their nursery rhymes any more' is a common cry among early years practitioners, yet when asked to list the nursery rhymes that they know, many educators' knowledge is equally lacking, apart from a few commonly known ones.

What a great opportunity to increase everyone's repertoire - sharing new rhymes, with parents recommending rhyme anthologies to buy, rather than bemoaning the state of the nation!

Ultimately, the challenge for early years educators is to ensure that everyone's literacy is valued, unconditionally, and that it is also represented within the setting. Evidence of familiar narratives, and other texts, makes a child feel at home and also helps their families feel respected.

The texts we read, the technology we engage with, form an important part of our identity and our idea of self. Everyone's well-being is enhanced if we anchor experiences in what we already know and can do, promoting positive, warm communication between the world of education and the world of home.

QUESTION TIME

Test yourself ...

• How many different ways do you read? List them.

• What is your very favourite thing to read? Why?

• Compare your list with that of a colleague. What is the same? What is different?

• Do you enjoy television or other screen-based activities?

• Under what circumstances do you think young children should engage in media-related activities?

• How many nursery rhymes do you know? How many do you recite regularly with the children?

Reflect upon ...

• How do you discover the reality of home-based literacy practices for the families of the children?

• How do you build bridges between these and the literacy practices in the setting?

• Do you think that literacy in your setting looks as exciting as it does in the homes of the children with whom you work?

• Is your book collection irresistible? Do you plan to share the best books possible with children and their families?

• Do you truly model good practice in your setting, so that parents can feel valued, inspired and motivated?

• Do you plan to offer experiences that you feel the children may be missing out on, for whatever reason (for example, storytelling in small groups, or continuous access to the outdoors)?

• How do you go about giving information about talk, reading and writing to parents?

• Do you ask them what it is they want to know?

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Alyck is a busy little boy in reception year. He loves making things, enjoys storytime, but never goes in the book corner. The class teacher spoke to his mother about it, expressing concern that school was not providing enough of the right kind of books, and enquiring what Alyck read at home.

'Oh, every Friday he reads International Shipping Weekly with his dad,' came the reply. So, some copies of the magazine were brought in and put in the book corner. Alyck's use of this area of provision increased dramatically, as it now had texts that he recognised and felt confident with.

In addition, other parents offered to send in copies of texts that children were familiar with at home. These were used in domestic role play and other areas of provision (for example, Thomas the Tank Engine comics placed near the train set, alongside picture books and information books about trains), broadening the reading diet of all the children and increasing opportunities for them all to be seen as readers.