Shift the Paradigm on Family Engagement for Literacy
November 14, 2012 by Irene Sege
(From left), Karen Mapp, Theresa Lynn, Carolyn Lyons, Maryellen Coffey, Tanisha Harris, Joan Kelley, Francheska Reveron and Kelly Kulsrud. (Photo: Caroline Silber for Strategies for Children)
CAMBRIDGE — Tanisha Harris and Francheska Reveron, two mothers who live in the Robinson Gardens public housing complex in Springfield, were the final speakers at our event yesterday on family engagement and literacy. Their stories reinforced the messages delivered by the panel of other experts who preceded them.
Harris and Reveron are parent ambassadors for Talk/Read/Succeed! – a place-based initiative at two public housing developments in the Western Massachusetts city. They read daily with their children. They attend play groups and enroll their children in summer programs. They talk with their children and enjoy such activities as mapping the neighborhood together. Both women are active in the PTO; Reveron became its president.
Before participating in Talk/Read/Succeed! the women didn’t yet realize the importance of reading aloud to their children. They didn’t yet understand how or why to engage their children in the kind of conversation that builds the