Answer to Question 1
Families provide opportunities for students to be involved in writing for real purposes and audiences. At home, students can write lists, send notes or email messages, write descriptions of special events in a journal or diary, and more. Students can bring complicated texts home to share with their parents. The students' parents can engage in writing pieces for the children. Such activities build students' enthusiasm for engaging in the writing process.
Answer to Question 2
Proponents of the meaning-based approach believe that, if provided with the right kind of environments, experiences, and social interactions, most children require very little formal instruction to learn to read and write. An ideal environment for learning will involve:
Print-rich classroom
Frequent storybook reading
Shared reading of big books
Shared writing experiences
Projects and/or thematic units