ACLAMO ESL Family Literacy Program

Program Overview

ACLAMO's "ESL Family Literacy" Program prepares limited-English preschoolers and parents for success in kindergarten and the early grades by adhering to family literacy's four components. Kindergarten Readiness targets language acquisition, cognition, phonemic awareness, vocabulary and social skills. ESL/Adult Education helps parents reach learning goals for English with curricula from "real life" situations, plus basic computer skills. Parent/Child Activities include games, storytelling, music and movement, which empower parents to model reading aloud and foster new skills and self-confidence. The program runs four mornings a week September-June, with a three-day, six-week summer session. All enrolled families are low-income, and most are relatively new to Norristown. Children from birth-8 years are eligible, but priority goes to “rising kindergarteners." ACLAMO requires faithful participation of children and parents (12-14 hours each week at ACLAMO, and in home assignments). This ensures sufficient intensity to achieve measureable gains in child development, English proficiency, family literacy behaviors, and early literacy skills.