WINTER 2011 39 Family Literacy Mary Esther Soto Huerta is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction of the College of Education at Texas State University-San Marcos, San Marcos, Texas. Mari Riojas-Cortez is a professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching of the College of Eduction and Human Development at the University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas. Santo Remedio Latino Parents & Students Foster Literacy through a Culturally Relevant Folk Medicine Event Mary Esther Soto Huerta & Mari Riojas-Cortez By contrast, schools that view Mexican- American families and learning through a multi-modal lens, one based on social capital theory for example, are schools that are equipped to perceive the inter- dependence between academic and social learning (Ada & Zubizarreta, 2001). These schools build upon the funds of knowledge represented within Latino 1 communities (Moll et al., 1992). These funds represent knowledge that is shared or exchanged within a family’s social network, and function to ensure that both parents and children thrive. Educa- tors can only learn about a family’s funds of knowledge by creating opportunities for parents to share their own cultural practices (Riojas-Cortez & Flores, 2009). Culture and Folk Medicine Possessing knowledge of medicinal herbs has historically contributed to the funds of knowledge of the Mexi- can-American community. Within the Mexican-American culture, the medicinal effects of herbs is valued knowledge that is transmitted through the generations. Remedios caseros (home remedies or folk medicine) are defned as “cures” that are widely used by Latinos to treat minor illnesses and to prevent serious illness (Becerra & Iglehart, 1995). When a particular malady is cured, Mexican American parents may comment that the herb was a santo remedio (a God-send). Background knowledge about medicinal herbs, however, has not typically been considered instrumental to school lit- eracy development, yet it should be viewed as a cultural fund of knowledge that can be used to promote literacy and create a reciprocal learning activity between school, child, and parent. Caretakers teach young children how to enact particular cultural practices (Heath, 2002). It is in this way that the three- or four-year-old Mexican-Ameri- can child quickly learns from teachers and peers about the types of behaviors and practices that are valued at school, as well as those that are not valued. Rap- idly the child comes to learn about the high status assigned to English and how standardized testing will regulate their learning. These factors directly impact a young child’s self-concept and academic performance (De Civita, Pagani, Vitaro, & Tremblay, 2004). When researchers examine issues of literacy concerning Latino parents and young children, many of the resulting stud- ies indicate that the literacy experiences of Mexican-American children who come from low-income homes are very different than their White middle class counterparts (Lopez, Barrueco, Feinhauer, & Miles, 2007). However, caution is warranted when researchers undertake their exami- nation of Mexican-American parents’ style and nature of engaging literacy in the same way they would study middle class-based literacy practices (Caspe, 2009). Such stud- ies are not inclusive and do not provide information about the types of literacy in which parents and children of Mexican heritage actually engage. When studies fail to examine lit- eracy through a multi-modal perspective, fndings tend to emphasize defcit views of the literacy practices of language minority groups. Seminal works such as Heath (1996) and Scribner and Cole (1981) have defned literacy as more than just what occurs in school. Additionally, recent fndings indicate that each family has culturally-specifc ways of engaging literacy (Espinosa, 2010) and research- ers have identifed the multiple literacy activities that Mexican-American chil- dren engage in on a daily basis (Duke & Purcell-Gates, 2003). Many educators have begun to re- consider their curricula, acknowledging that family involvement greatly infuences early literacy skills (Arnold, et al., 2008). As educators share school literacy expecta- tions with parents (Riojas-Cortez, Flores, & Clark, 2001), they also become responsible for examining how parents and other family members engage young children in literacy events, and can then create critical home-to- school connections for parents. At the same time, parents may be unaware that they are indeed promoting literacy development when family-based cultural practices occur seamlessly as everyday events (Riojas-Cor- tez, Soto Huerta, Flores, Clark, & Perez, 2008). In this vein Cairney (2000) proposed that reciprocal understandings can be forged when parents and schools learn how each defnes and values literacy. Parental and Family Involvement Unfortunately, schools remain an intimidating place for many Mexican- American parents. Mexican-American parents distance themselves from schools when they feel they have been assigned a defcit status as parents. This limits or eliminates opportunities for parental engagement with schools (Valdés, 1996).