tural considerations, and (d)international lessons; and
(4)technology, including (a)company involvement, and (b)computers at school and home.
Efficacy of home school partnerships can be understood within the theoretical framework of literacy perspectives. Literacy is a term that includes more than one perspective. As one researcher noted, different points of view on the topic determine the manner in which educators, parents, children and family use and evaluate literacy (Hill 1997).
Historical perspectives are concerned with readiness for reading instruction. Maturational readiness, includes the view that children pass through stages that cannot be rushed; thus home school connections or the role of parents in early literacy as minimal. Alternatively, the developmental view sees children as needing to be ready to learn how to read, with emphasis on nurturance more than nature. In this case, preschools and parental involvement are helpful for prereading efforts such as matching shapes or coloring same/different objects, which will influence readiness (Hill 1997, 263-264).
Current perspectives focus more on teaching skills such as phonics and the roles families can play in literacy. The connectionist perspective emphasizes that knowledge is based on pieces that are put together to make a whole. Parents initiate learning, and the over-learning of letter forms or spelling patterns leads to reading or literacy. Proponents of this perspective tend to assume that most parents do not read to their children or may not present adequate literacy models (Hill 266-267).
The emergent perspective is based on the cognitive construction of knowledge, a dynamic process that begins before school. Oral language acquisition is a model for print-related literacy, and child-play settings are encouraged over teacher-directed instruction. A parent program, from this perspective, would include real books and instruction on ways ...