Advocates push early schooling for Latinos

Aim is to narrow achievement gap

Alexandra Diaz, 4, participated in the story time event at the CentroNia family support center in Washington. Participants draw and eat and leave the event with a copy of the book that was read. (Bill O'Leary/Washington Post)

WASHINGTON -- The children and parents gathered for story time one recent Saturday morning in Washington heard "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" not once but twice. "In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf," the Eric Carle classic began in the first rendition.

"Bajo la luz de la luna, encima de una hoja, habia un huevecillo," it began in the second.

Afterward, children drew caterpillars and butterflies and ate cupcakes. Everyone left with a copy of the book. Among the crowd at the CentroNia family support center were Angie Lemus, 5, and her mother, Sandra Gomez, 19.

"When I was little, no one read books to me," said Gomez, the daughter of Salvadoran immigrants. But Gomez has a different routine with Angie. "Every night we read a book," she said. "Now it's normal."

That is the kind of shift at home that educators seek to address a major academic challenge: Latino children nationwide tend to start kindergarten knowing less about letters and numbers compared with their non-Hispanic white peers. Many never catch up.

Improving early childhood education is one of the best ways to narrow the achievement gap, educators say, citing such programs as the family book club. But many Latino families face economic, linguistic, educational, and cultural barriers.

"It's partly about parents not understanding the American system," said Eugene Garcia, an Arizona State University administrator and chairman of the National Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics. "Hispanic parents think school is good and education is good. They just don't have the tools they need."

About 40 percent of Latino 3- and 4-year-olds (and 5-year-olds not yet in kindergarten) are enrolled in pre-kindergarten programs, compared with about 60 percent of white and African American children, according to the Washington-based advocacy group Pre-K Now. In addition, a report from Garcia's task force noted that Hispanic mothers generally read and talk less to their children compared with white parents. Hispanic families also tend to have fewer children's books at home.

Latino education advocates said they are battling a misperception that Hispanic parents are less concerned about teaching young children.

Research shows lack of interest isn't the problem. Often Hispanic families don't have affordable preschools in their communities or, because of language barriers, don't know what's available. Many don't know the benefits of telling stories to young children or reading or counting with them.

To many recent immigrants and their families, specialists say, the US culture of Baby Einstein tapes, museum trips, and library story times is unfamiliar.

Targeted programs and increased outreach to Hispanic families can make a difference, a point stressed by Garcia's task force and the National Education Association, a teachers union.

"We talk about the high dropout rates of the Latino population and the achievement gap," said Michael Lopez, executive director of the National Center for Latino Child & Family Research in Washington. "If we think it's bad now, what happens when the population continues to grow and we don't do anything about it?"

Many community groups, businesses, and government agencies are searching for solutions. For instance, CentroNia and Scholastic Inc. have teamed up with book clubs. Scholastic offers free reading material as part of its "Lee y seras" program, which means "Read and you will be." Sesame Workshop officials have begun talking with educators about new ways to reach the Hispanic community, possibly through a Spanish-speaking Muppet or new television programming.

Many educators say enrolling Hispanic children in quality preschools is the best way to ensure they start kindergarten ready to learn.