Resources for Families

In this section parents can learn how to foster literacy in children of all ages. Topics include the importance of early literacy preparation, how children learn to read, suggestions for games and activities, and instructions for making tactile books.

Below is a list of topics you'll find in this section. Click on a title to jump to a specific topic.

Infants

Helping Your Baby Learn about Reading and Writing
Family Connect
Parents learn the importance of exposing children with visual impairments to literacy skills from a very early age; includes activities to enjoy together.

Preschool

Activities to Promote Early Literacy
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
These activities integrate literacy into a preschooler's play, storytime, and daily activities.

Perkins Panda Literacy Kit
Perkins School for the Blind
The Perkins Panda materials "teach fundamental early literacy skills to children and help parents be more involved in their child's development."  This site includes information about early literacy, the importance of experiences in developing literacy skills, and the Perkins Panda.

Braille Resources for Parents
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
AFB's article offers specific strategies to help preschool children develop essential literacy skills.

Promoting Your Child's Development of Reading and Writing Skills
Family Connect
The author offers ideas parents can use to foster a love of reading and writing in preschool-age children with visual impairments.

Reading and Making Tactile Books with Your Child
Family Connect
AFB's Family Connect shares tips on choosing books to read with small children, adding tactile drawings and braille to a book, and making story bags or story boxes.

Reading Comes Naturally: A Mother and Her Blind Child's Experiences                                                                                                                                                                                       American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
Diane Miller shares her experiences in helping her blind daughter to develop literacy skills. She describes the importance of bridging concepts, her search for braille books, homemade books, and how she created a literate environment.

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Reinforcing Reading Skills

Helping Your Child Develop Literacy Skills
Family Connect
The importance of a firm grounding in literacy skills is stressed in this article. It includes a list of ideas for fostering these skills during the elementary school years.

How Students Who Are Blind Read and Write
Family Connect
This article introduces parents to braille, the tools used to read and write it, what to expect when their child goes to school, and the role of the Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI).

Partners in Literacy: Supporting Braille Instruction and Braille Readers at Home (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
DVI Quarterly, 52(3), (2007) Council for Exceptional Children (CECDVI)
In this special Partnering with Parents issue, Missy Garber and Lynne Davis Dellinger talk about the importance of continuity between the use of braille at school and home. (pp. 11-15)

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Research

Literacy Begins at Home: Family Involvement in the Home Literacy Experiences for Children with Visual Impairments
Future Reflections, 14(1), (1995) The National Federation of the Blind (NFB)
Christopher Craig presents his research on emergent literacy in the home and offers specific suggestions for parents to provide literacy experiences.

Web-Based Organizations and Internet Resources

Parents' Guide to the Development of Preschool Children with Disabilities
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
"Parents of preschool children with visual or physical disabilities will find … a wide range of information to assist them in promoting their children's development from infancy to age five." The listing includes many publishers and producers of children's book in alternate formats.  

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