The National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is a non-profit association comprised of teachers, families, businesses, students, administrators, and community leaders. The mission of the PTA is to “make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children” (CITE THIS). Founded in 1897 as the National Congress of Mothers, the PTA is the oldest and largest volunteer child advocacy organization. Through its collaboration between families, community leaders, and schools, the PTA has played a significant role in the establishment of universal kindergarten, the national school lunch program, child labor laws, mandatory immunizations, and many others. The PTA is the voice for children …show more content…
On their website, www.pta.org families can find grade level guides giving them an overview of what the student will be learning in that grade, advice on how and when to talk to the teacher, and ideas of things to do at home to help their child succeed. In addition, the PTA sponsors a month-long literacy event, Family Reading Experience, to encourage families to read together in new and fun ways. Through the event, parents learn ways to support core literacy skills such as phonological awareness, fluency, vocabulary, phonics, and comprehension. Why is the National PTA concerned with providing parents with grade-level guides and encouraging reading at home? Studies show a “robust and positive relation between the degree of parent involvement and child language and literacy outcomes” (Pagan, 2014). Enlisting parents to help teach reading has many significant advantages. Namely, parents are the first and most important teachers of their children. (McConnell, 2016). But telling parents to read with their children may not be enough. Parents may need to play a more comprehensive role for reading benefits to occur (Pagan,