Family Literacy

Another area of debate in the family literacy field is the wisdom of designing family literacy programs mainly for children from birth to five years old and their primary caregiver—usually the mother or grandmother. This has raised concerns about ignoring the literacy and learning needs of alternative families, as well as of older children, youth, and adults. Allan Luke and Carmen Luke (2001) make the case that the needs of adolescents experiencing literacy difficulties and their families are largely ignored, and resources are directed almost exclusively to young children.