An Examination of Family Literacy and Texting to Promote Early Learning

Families play a major role in the learning and development of young children, and this is particularly true in the discipline of literacy. Family literacy emphasizes connecting with families to foster literacy learning and has been a major topic literacy of research and practice for over the past 25 years. Initial work focused on the interactions and practices of families, but the key to promote literacy learning is connecting with families. Many programs have attempted to make these connections, but have only been successful at reaching small groups of families. The widespread use and accessibility of technology provides opportunities to connect with more families with greater ease. Text messaging is one form of technology that could be used to promote family literacy by more conveniently connecting with the families. This review of literature examines the use of texting to promote family literacy. First, it will focus on family literacy research and initiatives. Then, it will highlight the use of text messaging interventions, particularly to connect with families.