The Texas Education Agency (TEA) recently held its 2025 “Empowering Families Through Helpful Resources” session. The session is part of a Title 3 engagement series aimed at supporting the families of emergent bilingual students in Texas.
During the session, Alba Avila from TEA’s Emergent Bilingual Support department discussed biliteracy at home and school. TEA representative Rickey Santellana discussed how families can build partnerships between home and schools. TEA representatives Brandi Carter and Damaris Montalvo-Irigoyen discussed the role that parents play in early literacy.
Below is a summary of the presentation:
Biliteracy at Home and School
Biliteracy—being proficient in two or more languages—is an asset and a skill that develops over time. Regardless of their English proficiency, families can actively help strengthen their child’s connection to English learning by continuing to practice their home language with them.
Key strategies to use at home include practicing listening and speaking skills through fun, interactive activities like "I Spy" and giving directions during car rides. To practice reading, children can discuss books and use technology like grocery apps to engage children with relevant vocabulary. Writing can be enhanced by encouraging creative tasks, such as writing a story about a favorite TV show.
The key to supporting language development is consistency and engagement, whether in English or the home language. By fostering an environment where children practice speaking, listening, reading and writing, families play a crucial role in their children’s long-term language success.
Building Partnerships Between Home and School
Rickey Santellana emphasized the importance for parents to build a strong partnership between home and school through effective communication. He encouraged parents to actively participate in their child’s school community by staying informed about communication tools, such as text alerts and newsletters, and ensuring that information is available in the language they prefer.
Parents should also keep teachers informed about their child's well-being to help the school support them better. Santellana emphasized the value of attending school board meetings to understand decision-making processes and recommended engaging in focus groups to discuss issues like grades, school programs and communication tools.
By providing feedback and sharing ideas, parents can help influence decisions that impact their children and strengthen the relationship between home and school. Participating in decision-making groups at the campus and district level empowers parents to be advocates for their children's education.
Family Engagement and Literacy
Brandi Carter and Damaris Montalvo-Irigoyen’s presentation explained the role parents play in supporting early literacy, particularly through oral language and vocabulary development. From birth, children develop literacy skills through interactions with parents, such as talking, reading, singing and playing.
Research shows that children in families that promote literacy tend to become better readers and perform better academically. Parents can support their child's literacy by engaging in conversations, using complete sentences, asking open-ended questions, and modeling language. Encouraging writing at home, such as writing lists, letters, and stories, also strengthens early literacy skills. Reading a variety of books helps expose children to new vocabulary and sentence structures, while discussing the content reinforces comprehension and language development.
Parents can further support literacy by explaining unfamiliar vocabulary in context, offering examples, and revisiting words throughout the day. For bilingual families, reading in the child’s native language first is key, as it lays the foundation for later success in learning English. Consistent engagement at home is essential for building strong language and literacy skills.