Streamwood School, Streamwood, Illinois

At Streamwood School in Streamwood, Illinois, Mexican American parents have been encouraged to engage in storybook publication and reading to students in the bilingual elementary school program. The project began at a parent's request to share with his child's class a story he had written. The books that have resulted from this project espouse strong moral values for children, using extended family memories and animal tales to teach values. Parents are clearly instructing their children in narrative format on issues of integrity, industriousness, and the importance of family. Often the books become family projects, as parents and their children produce illustrated books that are bound and laminated by the school.

The written language of the parents in the Streamwood project has extended to guides for peers on child rearing. A supportive administrator facilitated this parental project and, by accepting their linguistic and instructional input, helped to promote a learning environment that concretely values native written language and literacy.