First Focus

Research has shown that children are more successful in learning to read if their parents read with them than if they do not. Effective family literacy initiatives are based on this premise and integrate early child education, adult literacy, and adult basic education with parenting education into one unified program. These programs target the most disadvantaged and least educated families in an attempt to build the literacy and basic education skills of parents, so they can do their part to make children better readers. Evidence suggests that an approach that delivers coordinated support services for children and parents produces stronger results for everyone. First Focus believes that family literacy programs provide critical supports for struggling families and are particularly important for English Language Learner families.