Local literacy advocates say unplugging the phones and engaging with kids builds fundamental skills

Reading and writing aren’t the only components of literacy. And reading books together isn’t the only way parents can help kids learn to read.

The Region 5 MiFamily Engagement Center and the Bay-Arenac Great Start Collaborative offer several different ways parents and kids can connect while building key literacy skills.

We promise that many of them will be fun for both kids and adults.

Maggie Dwan, the Family Engagement & Literacy Hub Coordinator for the eight counties of Region 5 MiFamily Engagement Center, says literacy starts with language development.

If you’ve seen the Talking is Teaching signs around town, you know how this plays out. The signs suggest topics to get kids and caregivers talking about what they’re experiencing in the moment. Near downtown, the signs may ask kids to listen for car engines. On a walking trail, the signs ask kids to listen for birds.

“It’s a really big initiative that we have that shares the everyday interaction, everyday voice, and everyday conversation, and leads to building that literacy development and those literacy skills that are needed to move on to the next level,” Dwan says.

Dwan explains that since literacy is about more than reading and writing, the MiFamily Engagement Center offers opportunities, such as the Talking is Teaching campaign, to help parents who may not think they have the skills and tools to teach their kids.

That lack of confidence is especially noticeable in families facing economic struggles.

“Some families are worried about what they’re eating tonight,” Dwan says. “They’re not going to be purchasing books or they’re not going to be using some of the information or some of these tools out in the community because that’s not their first and most prioritized issue at the moment. Adults feeling like they are not strong in literacy really becomes generational.”

Local programs can help families break that cycle.

Rich VanTol, Coordinator of the Bay Arenac ISD’s Great Start Program, says when adults give children their undivided attention for 20 to 25 minutes a day, it helps build literacy skills. That time doesn’t have to be spent reading a book, he adds.

Photo courtesy of Rich Van TolRich VanTol, Coordinator of the Bay Arenac ISD’s Great Start Program“We're just asking families to consider talking to their children, reading to their children, singing songs, or just playing,” he says.

The key is that 20 to 25 minutes of time needs to be free of electronics. To get the most benefit out of that time, families need to “unplug and play,” VanTol says.

Educators are seeing the neurological effects of screen time in early childhood. As a result, they are stressing the need to keep kids engaged in healthy play. Screen-free play time is critical from birth to kindergarten.

“This will probably be our next public health crisis,” says VanTol. “It's causing some neurological disruption in the way the brain is getting wired. We keep seeing our third-grade literacy scores plummet. We keep seeing behavioral problems and dysregulation of children in schools and kids getting expelled and suspended as early as preschool.”

Part of the solution is to put down the screens and get back to more interaction within families. That engagement isn’t anything formal. It can happen during routine car rides or over a shared meal.

Photo courtesy of Talking is TeachingNiki Napolitano, Assistant Director of Early Childhood Programs at Bay-Arenac ISD, says when parents and kids have conversations while driving down the road or during meals, the kids pick up skills. These everyday moments make a big difference in language development and the way children learn to engage with others. Eventually, those skills translate into reading and writing.

Mealtime conversations don’t have to look the same in every household, Napolitano adds.

“There might not be the beautifully prepared, family organic meal. Quite frankly, you might be zipping through McDonald’s, but use that time you have in your routine to find a time to connect with your child and be present, be engaged.”

The connection between engagement at home and literacy rates at school is evident, whether the conversations take place over chicken nuggets or organic vegetables. While talking to parents and caregivers, kids pick up vocabulary and begin to understand sentence structure. Without those skills, “the interpretation of literacy materials is nearly impossible,” Napolitano says.

It all starts, though, with putting down the phones and turning off tablets.

“It essentially equates to the idea of this oral language fluency. It is a precursor to early literacy skills,” says Napolitano, who is also involved with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.

When parents and caregivers play, sing, and read together, the kids pick up essential schools for learning to read plus have better mental health skills later in life.“Students developing vocabulary, through conversation with caregivers, helps them understand more complex language and text throughout their lives. That engagement is a lifelong parent initiative.”

These conversations empower children in other ways, too, Napolitano says.

“It's about mental health. It's about connection. It’s building relationships. That's also how you're teaching children to navigate social interactions,” he says.

Dwan adds these conversations form the basis of a quality parent-child relationship.

“We want to make sure that that parent gets the time to just connect and love and attach,” Dwan says.

If you’re looking for help in this area, free programs include:
 

• Talking is Teaching can be practiced anywhere and at any time. Look for the colorful signs around town.
• The Dolly Parton Imagination Library provides children with free books.
• The Great Lakes Bay Parents calendar suggests free activities every day. Many of them sensory-friendly, will helps families unplug and interact in healthy, engaging ways.