Language, Literacy and Healthy Development: The Work of CAPC and CPNP Projects

Literacy events

Many projects work in partnership with literacy and community organizations to help organize community events. They support the participation of the families they serve by helping organize and promote these events and sometimes accompanying families to:

• Story tents
• Library stories/cards
• Literacy day celebrations
• Community readers (as models)
• Book fairs
• Reading circles
• Special events in the community such as National Day of the child and Aboriginal Solidarity Day

Ready for School. Submitted by Barb Desjardin, In A Good Way. Brandon, MB

Book giveaways

When children have access to books in the early years they are more likely to succeed at school - where book learning is still the dominant mode of literacy. The importance of placing children's books in the hands of family members is one that many projects conveyed in the Literacy Matters survey results. Many projects make books available to low-income families who might otherwise have none. They do this through partnerships with free public libraries, by creating their own circulating collections of books for children and parents, and/or by incorporating book giveaways or book borrowing into specific programs.

Kisses, kisses, kisses was commissioned by Born to Read, New Brunswick for distribution to newborns and their parents.

Province-wide initiatives

Through the survey we also learned of province-wide Books for Babies giveaways of books for new borns in three Atlantic provinces - New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. The funding for the purchase of the books comes from multiple sources, indicative of strong community leadership, support, and a recognition of the role of books in the literacy growth of children, starting from birth.

New Brunswick: Born to Read Contact: Shirley Downey 40 Union St. St. Stephen, NB E3L 1T5 506-466-1479

Nova Scotia: Read to Me Contact: Carol, McDougall, Isaac Walter Killam Health Centre 5850/5980 University Avenue PO Box 3070, Halifax Nova Scotia B3J 3G9 902-470-6487 or 902-470-6683

Newfoundland: Books for Babies Contact: Tina Stewart PO Box 822, 141 O'Connell Avenue Corner Brook, Newfoundland A2H 0H4 709-634-4888

 

Submitted by Judy Dube from Terra Association. Edmonton, Alberta.

Book Giveaways

Gathering books from many sources

• We have a partnership with the Saskatoon Public Library and they have donated children's books to us. The University of Saskatchewan has donated second hand books for our student parents. We give books as gifts for the children each Christmas. We have had a large number of second hand children's books donated to the program. We have been doing this for nine and a half years and now know which books are most popular (Lynn Cornish-Braun, Saskatoon Friends of Students and Kids)
• Purchase them from fundraising, budgeted monies, First Nations support. (Irene Szabla, Child Development Centre)
• Donated from Early Years Literacy and the Women's University Foundation (Cheryl Booth, Port Cares: CAPC Niagara Brighter Futures)
• The Ontario Federation of Elementary School Teachers made a large donation. (Jan Inguanez, Gesundheit Fur Kinder)
• We receive donated books from the RCMP's 'Adopt a Library' program. (Michelle Ward, Kids First Association)
• Donations from organizations and churches. (Michelle Ward, Kids First Association)
• Purchase from the dollar store (Jennifer Sells, Bruce and Grey Brighter Futures)
• Donated by a teachers' group (Jennifer Sells, Bruce and Grey Brighter Futures)

Sometimes families living on low incomes are reluctant to borrow books for fear of them getting lost or torn. Recognizing this, and acknowledging the pure pleasure of having one's own books to revisit over and over again, book giveaways feature prominently in CAPC and CPNP projects. To get books into the hands of recipients, projects are, as usual, resourceful.

CAPC/CPNP project initiatives

Giving books to many families

• Books are given to the students as gifts on parenting, relationships, self-esteem, life-skills, cooking, recipes (Lynne Cornish-Braun, Saskatoon Friends of Students and Kids)
• We use some of the books as prizes and an incentive to visit the centre (Cheryl Booth, Port Cares: CAPC Niagara Brighter Futures)
• All participants receive books (Robin Hicken, Gesundheit Fur Kinder)
• We let participants choose (Barb Desjardins, In A Good Way)
• All participants receive books. The four and five year olds get different books than the two and three year olds, who get different books than the newborns (Cathy Leclaire, Kids Corp Family Resource Program)
• Based on child development, a speech pathologist is used to determine the level of development of the child, and then the appropriate book to give them. (Irene Szabla, Child DevelopmentCentre)
• We provide each child attending the program with a Literacy Backpack at the end of the schoolyear: this is filled with books, a stuffed animal reading buddy, information on how to access the library, information on how to encourage literacy, crayons, pencils, etc. (Michelle Craig,Expanding Head Start in Edmonton)
• We solicit donations of children's books which we ensure get into homes of families who could otherwise not afford them. (Robin Hicken, Gesundheit Fur Kinder)
• Parents receive books when they attend daycare/preschool meetings (M. Matheson-Munro, Gameti Early Intervention)
• We hold a "Books for Babies" group weekly that promotes reading with infants. Parents receive a free book each week for their child and a teddy bear and book bag at the end of the session. We also have an informal book exchange of books for adults and children that is available in the common area of our program. (Marg Mitchell, Otenwa Iyniuk/Ben Calf Robe Society)

Literacy Programs

It is a serious error to assume that any child brings nothing to new experiences. Indeed all reputable developmental accounts assume that nothing comes from nothing. Anne Haas Dyson Popular Literacies and the "All" Children: Rethinking Literacy Development in Contemporary Childhoods. Language Arts Vol 81 No.2. 2003

As we noted earlier, project staff typically bring a learner-sensitive approach to child and adult. A learner-sensitive approach implicitly and explicitly recognizes that children and adults bring prior experience and knowledge to literacy programs. This recognition sets the stage for reciprocal learning and mutual respect.

Program models

Program models are distinguished by a number of factors:

• Who they serve - prospective parents, parents, children, or parents and children together;
• What goals they seek to accomplish and principles they adhere to;
• Where they take place - in homes or centers;
• When they occur - duration (how long) and frequency (how often);
• How they decide upon and organize program content;

Literacy programs for parents effect children's development and well being, even if the children are not directly involved (Ruth Nickse,1990. Family and Intergenerational Literacy Programs: An Update of the Noises of Literacy ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, Columbus, Ohio). However, programs that involve both children and parents intensively over a period of time have been found to produce the most measurable, positive outcomes. In the survey, we found that a combination of these program approaches were used in CAPC/CPNP projects.

Choosing a literacy program

Is the literacy program a good choice for CAPC and CPNP projects? To help practitioners decide, we have devised three categories of questions that emerge from both the principles articulated in CAPC/CPNP projects and the practices conveyed in the Literacy Matters survey. These categories are: i) fitting the principles; ii) feasibility; iii) effectiveness.

Is the program a good choice for CAPC/CPNP projects?

Children (and mothers) first

• Is the health and development of the child the primary consideration of the program?
• How does the language program/resource support and enhance interactions between children and their parents, recognize and build upon individual differences?

Strengthening and supporting families

• Is there support for parents to carry out their primary responsibility for the language and literacy development of their children?
• Can the materials, strategies, activities be easily taken from centre to home? Is there reciprocity of learning within the program - opportunities for modeling language, communicating ideas?

Equity and accessibility

• Do families, regardless of their cultural and socio-economic status, have equal access and opportunities to develop to their full language potential?
• Are program materials and methods a good fit for participants' social, linguistic and cultural experiences?

Flexibility

• Can the program be shaped to meet the particular circumstances and changing needs of children and families in diverse communities?
• Can it be tailored to meet the immediate and pressing needs of the families we serve?

Community based

• Do parents and other community members play a key role in the planning, implementation and/or design of the language literacy program?
• Can other community organizations help with funding, training and offering the program?

Partnerships

• How does this language literacy program fit with an effective, coordinated continuum of prevention and early intervention programs for children and their families?
• How would this program work as part of the combined efforts for literacy education and support in your community?

Feasibility

• Will the program work within the constraints of the time, space and staffing we have available?
• Is it within our budget? Is training available? Are materials readily available?

Effectiveness

• Does the program have a proven record? Have other projects used it successfully?
• Is there evidence that it meets the desired outcomes for the populations with which we work?
• Are the language and literacy outcomes clearly articulated?

Programs currently offered reflect available training

Responses from the Literacy Matters survey indicate that literacy programs offered within the CAPC/CPNP projects reflect the training available to the projects. Responses also coincide with recommendations from literacy research in three key areas: i) emphasis on the importance of the oral language development of children including the quality of parent child interactions; ii) recognition that accessing books matters deeply to the literacy potential of children; and finally, iii) embeddedness of literacy learning in broader learning programs.

Programs offered

Graph 4. Number of projects responding = 112 Projects indicated multiple programs

Parent-child Mother Goose programs are offered by thirty-six percent of the 112 responding projects. Mother Goose emphasizes language development in young children and the interactive role of parents as the child's first and primary language teacher.

Just over sixty percent of the projects offer programs that give children and their parents access to books, and ideas to enhance a child's engagement with books. "Children who learn to read early come from families where there are books, and where they are read to often. There is now overwhelming evidence that stimulating experiences with books have facilitative consequences for literacy development." ( p. 9 Access for All Closing the Book Gap for Children in Early Education, 2001 by Susan B. Neuman, Donna C. Celano, Albert N. Greco and Pamela Shue, International Reading Association, Newark, Delaware).

For thirty-five percent of the responses project staff named broader learning programs, such as Learning Begins, Early Learning Canada (other), and Learning and Parenting Skills (LAPS) as programs where literacy learning occurred, recognizing that literacy is learned in a broader context.

Training taken by current staff

Graph 5. Number of projects responding = 112 Projects indicated multiple programs

Oral language programs

Parent-Child Mother Goose Program:

The Parent-Child Mother Goose Program
720 Bathurst Street, Suite 500A
Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2R4

Telephone: (416) 588-5234
Fax: (416) 588-1355
E-mail: mgoose@web.net
Website 

Contact Person: mgoose@web.net

The Parent-Child Mother Goose program is a group experience for parents/caregivers and their babies and young children focusing on the pleasure and power of using oral rhymes, songs, and stories together. The program aims to strengthen the parent-child bond while building a supportive parent group. The materials and activities emphasize the critical role of oral literacy as a foundation for print literacy and involves adults in literacy activities in a non-threatening and enjoyable way.

Each group of parents and children (Birth to two and a half or, two and a half to four) meet with two facilitators once a week for ten weeks. Teaching is directed at the parents and they are encouraged to use language with their young children, touch children firmly and appropriately, and make eye contact. Each session ends with a story for parents, often a folktale that prompts discussions of ongoing issues.

Materials: See website for a range of possibilities.

Costs: There is no charge for families to take part in the program. No materials are required for participants.

Training: The host association is charged $1800.00 for two days of training for up to twenty people. The amount charged varies depending upon accommodations and travel expenses for the Parent Child Mother Goose representative.

Rhymes That Bind

Centre for Family Literacy
#201 - 11456 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton Alberta T5K 0M1

Telephone: (780) 421-7323 ext. 242
Fax: (780) 421-7324
E-mail: Kimberley_Onclin@eLit.ca
Website
Contact Person: Kimberly Onclin, Program Manager

Rhymes That Bind is as an oral literacy program that also promotes positive parenting. The program focuses on rhyme, story, and song and is held in partnership with community agencies. A circle of families meets to play, learn, sing, share information and support one another in their parenthood journey. The program involves circle time with parents and infants up to two years of age, and is adapted from Parent-Child Mother Goose. Two facilitators lead the program for ten weekly sessions, one hour weekly.

Materials: Costs are $20.00 per person.

Training: Rhymes that Bind requires two days of training (twelve hours) offered by two trainers.

Talking with Children in your First Language (Primary Language Literacy Project)

Pat Marek-Thornton
Speech Pathologist
Ottawa Carleton School District
133 Greenbank Road
Ottawa, Ontario K2H 6L3

Email:
Telephone: (613) 596-8211 ext. 8657
Fax: (613) 596-8705
E-mail: Pat_Marek-Thornton@ocdsb.edu.on.ca
Website
Contact Person: Pat Marek-Thornton

The Primary Language Literacy Project (PLLP) is a community-based awareness program for parents of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. It was developed through a partnership between Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and First Words Preschool Speech and Language Program of Ottawa. Throughout this program, parents are encouraged to use their first language at home with their children to help them develop strong language skills. Topics include: Developing Early Language; Developing Language through Reading and Story Telling; Developing Language through Play and Music; Developing Language through Television and Videos; Preparing Children to Learn at School; Kindergarten Expectations: What You Can Do At Home.

Materials: The materials from the PLLP focus on encouraging first language use at home. Booklets and videos were developed in Arabic, English, French, Mandarin, and Somali for parents and caregivers of children under six years of age. The booklets and videos provide a general introduction to the six topics listed above.

Training: The PLLP uses a train-the-trainer model based on community development principles to enable self-sustaining delivery in different communities. Facilitators will be trained to lead groups of parents through the unit(s) in their first language. Workshops are intended to be parent-friendly, interactive and to promote dialogue. The workshops can be made available to parents and/or caregivers, either as a series or as stand-alone units.

Broad-based literacy programs

From Lullabies to Literacy

Macaulay Child Development Centre
1674 Eglinton Ave. West, 3rd floor
Toronto, ON
M6E 2H3

Telephone: (416) 789-7441
Fax: (416) 789-4719
E-mail: info@maccauleycentre.org
Website

Contact Person: Sherri Ernst, Program Director: (416) 789-7441 ext. 222

This publication is a product of the Macauley Centre's "Community Family Literacy Project". The aim of the curriculum document is to help community staff and family members promote the development of literacy skills in children. With input from many community agencies and experts, staff at the Macaulay Centre has developed a curriculum for use in settings such as family resource centres, childcare programs, parenting groups, and home visiting programs. The Family Literacy curriculum is based upon the following topics: Building Self-esteem; Talking and Listening; Songs and Rhymes; Sounds of the Alphabet; Storytelling; Sharing Books with Children; Reading Together; Drawing and Writing; Sounds and Words in our World.

During each session, a facilitator leads adults in a discussion around research-based information and their own experience. Adults and children then come together to learn interactive songs and rhymes, enjoy a special selection of books together, and to participate in free play. Adults practice at home some of the new ideas and strategies they have learned through the group discussion and activities of the program.

Materials: Curriculum document " From Lullabies to Literacies," $50.00.

Training: Please contact info@maccauleycentre.org

Parenting for a Literate Community (PLC)
Books for Children and Families (BCF)

Early Childhood Centre
University of New Brunswick
P.O. Box 4400
Fredericton, New Brunswick
E3B 5A3

Phone: (506) 453-5024
Fax: (506) 458-7841
E-mail: eccentre@unb.ca

Contact Persons: Pam Nason and Pam Whitty

Parenting for a Literate Community (PLC) is a program for pre-school children and their families. It has three components: a children's program, a parents' program, and a time for parents and children together. Parents and professionals shape the program together by selecting literacy topics and using everyday experiences as a springboard to literacy learning. The program is flexible and responsive to emerging needs and family circumstances. Key ideas, bedrock principles, and a thematic focus on literacy as empowerment, can be integrated into existing programs and services. The program runs ten weeks, twice a week. PLC includes eight literacy topics: Books for Babies; Singing and Dancing; Cultivating Language and Literate Play; Honouring Domestic Literacies; Predictable Books; Folk and Fairy Tales; Connecting Home, School and Community, and Where Does Fonix Phit?A set of parallel books for children and their parents, Books for Children and Families, draws on themes from PLC. Titles include: Baby and Mommy Go Walking; Singing and Dancing; Careful Corey; Wiggles and Squiggles; Seth Writes a Story; The Number Hunt, and I Am Starting School Today. Notes for parents provide additional information to facilitate the literacy growth of young children.

Materials: PLC Program resource materials include a training manual, videotape, and eight booklets on topics in literacy education for young children and their parents (as listed above). The eight literacy booklets can be downloaded from the website in PDF. The Trainer's Manual includes the Literacy booklets and can be purchased for $120.00 Books for Children and Families are $22.00 plus tax and shipping. These books can be used as a stand-alone or in conjunction with PLC. See website for further information.

Training: Training is offered on a flexible basis. Costs are $2000.00 for Level One for a group of eighteen-twenty people, plus travel & accommodation for the facilitators.

Book Bridges

Dr. Bev Zakaluk
University of Manitoba
Faculty of Education
Winnipeg, MB.

Barbara Wynes
Manitoba Education & Training and Youth
310-800 Portage Avenue,
Winnipeg, MB
R3G On$
Tel: 204-945-1053
Fax: 204-948-1008
E-mail: bwynes@gov.mb.ca

Contact: Barbara Wynes at bwynes@gov.mb.ca
Website: <www.nald.ca/fulltext/family/famlit/page76.htm>

The goal of Book Bridges is to promote the personal aspirations and well being of its participants. Book Bridges is a family literacy program that uses children's literature to engage learners and explore reading comprehension strategies. The reading component is organized around themes, beginning with the reading of family stories, realistic and historic fiction, fables and folk tales, and concluding with an emphasis on informational text. In addition, Book Bridges incorporates process writing.

Book Bridges activities are directed toward adult learners with literacy skills that range from non-measurable to approximately the Grade eight levels. The program is not designed to develop test taking, study skills or technical writing abilities, nor is it meant to help participants qualify for general equivalency diploma certification. However, competencies acquired in the program may give participants the confidence to aspire to higher levels of attainment in the future. Sharing their mothers' storybooks, creating albums about family members, and writing family stories indirectly involve the children of participants.

While the Book Bridges program originally was designed to accommodate literacy learners in general, the majority of the participants have been immigrant women and their children. A Book Bridges handbook containing scripted lessons has been published (National Literacy Secretariat, 1997). Recommended literature selections can be changed to suit the multi-cultural make-up of the group. Participants can write and share stories from their own culture or homeland. The program consists of sixty hours of instruction over a ten-week period. Sixteen to twenty participants attend two three hour evening sessions per week.

Materials and Training: Contact Barbara Wynes.

Costs: If housing is provided within an existing program, the essential costs are for instructor's salary and children's literature collections. If program is delivered in collaboration with a library, these funds could also be offset.

Reading and Parents Programs

Community Learning Centre: Kingston, Ontario
88 Wright Crescent
Kingston, ON K7K 2V8

Telephone: (613) 547-2012
Fax: (613) 547-2024
E-mail: info@kingstonliteracy.com
Website: <www.kingstonliteracy.com>
Contact: Susan Barry

RAPP is a resource-lending program for parents and caregivers of young children. RAPP was designed to help parents learn how to help children learn effectively, and to provide children with quality books and activities. This resource-based program can be used to complement or enhance other programs, as a resource in an adult literacy centre or as an extension of another family literacy program. RAPP packs contain a quality children's book, tips for parents on how to use the resources for the development of children's language and emergent literacy skills, craft ideas and materials, poetry selections, and activities for each young child in the family on a biweekly basis. All materials in the pack relate to the theme of the story. An audiotape of the book may be included if permission is received from the publisher. RAPP is designed to help parents gain parenting skills, at the same time as helping their preschool children with pre-literacy skills through a series of home activities that include reading to them.

RAPP is an eight-session program usually delivered in two to three hour-long sessions. Parents work with facilitators in one area on-site while their children are being attended to and participating in related activities in another area at the same site.

This project has produced a manual entitled, "The Reading and Parenting Project: Strengthening Literacy Skills Through Parent Involvement."

Materials: Parents, in adult literacy programs, borrow book packs on a bi-weekly basis. Eight to ten sessions, once every two weeks, one hour group visits.

Training: Family literacy staff members visit parent-child playgroups to discuss RAPP, demonstrate the use of the materials, and register interested parents.

Costs: A program could start with a small selection of books and the collection could be built up gradually.

Come Read With Me

Saskatchewan Literacy Network
206-220- 3rd Avenue South
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
S7K 1MI

Telephone: Toll free 1-888-511-211
Website: <www.nald.ca/Province/Sask/SLN> E-mail: lmourot@sasktel.net>
Contact Person: Lynn Mourot, Family Literacy Coordinator.

Come Read With Me is an adaptation of Homespun, which was developed by the Saskatchewan Literacy Network in 1993. Programs are located in a variety of community and school settings. Come Read With Me utilizes a six-step learning/ reflection process using children's books as a stimulus. The steps utilized by the program are: Share, Do, Plan, Analyze, Name, and Experience. The program shifts from the ready-made lessons that characterized the Homespun model, to a more flexible approach. It provides formats for conducting group sessions, processes for discussions, and ready-to-copy parent handouts. The program strives to empower parents and support them in establishing a reading culture in the home.

Training: Contact Lynn Mourot.

Training is offered on a flexible basis, typically for a group of ten people. A three-day facilitator training is offered, which includes resource materials and certificate of participation on completion. Training covers the following topics: family literacy background and issues, adult education principles, family literacy program models, starting a family literacy program, reaching "hard to reach" parents, facilitator resources, reading strategies and theories, evaluation, and community resources and networking. The training also gives facilitators current literacy statistics, information on fundraising and proposal writing, program evaluation tips, and ways to create fun.

Books Offer Our Kids Success: BOOKS

Center for Family Literacy,
#201, 11456 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton, AB
T6K 1M0

Telephone: (780) 421-7323
E-mail: Colleen-Crozier@elit.ca
Website
Contact Person: Colleen Crozier

The BOOKS program is based on the Homespun program developed at Medicine Hat College. BOOKS programs are run in collaboration with other community organizations such as Head Start programs, community development projects, school and health centers, and agencies for Aboriginal people, new immigrants and people for whom English is a Second Language. The goals of the program are to improve the language and literacy skills of preschool and primary-aged children and to increase the influence of literacy in the home through pleasurable reading activities centered on children's books. Parents also engage in informal writing, often writing a story with their preschool children.

A qualified, paid facilitator works with up to ten parents, for eight weeks, modeling book sharing strategies. Ideas and themes are discussed and extended by craft and drama activities. Parents also engage in informal writing, often writing a story for their children during the program. Parents borrow books to share at home with their preschool children and receive a gift book.

Training: BOOKS requires one-and-one-half days of training (six hours the first day, three hours the second) offered by one trainer. The training includes a binder with examples of books to be used as well as crafts and other activities that fit with the books. Training covers how the program is delivered and participants can practice sharing a book in small groups. Tips on good facilitating practices are offered as well as multicultural concerns and choosing children's books. Certificates are provided for those who complete the training. Training is offered every year through the Centre for Family Literacy.

Storysacks

Storysacks Canada
New Brunswick Coalition for Literacy
944 Prospect Street
Fredericton, NB, Canada E3B 9M6

Telephone: (506) 457-1227
Toll free (in Canada): 1-800-720-6253
E-mail: storysacksinfo@nald.ca or jangreer@nald.ca
Website
Contact:Jan Greer Langley.

Storysacks are copyrighted by the originator British educator, Neil Griffiths, who introduced the idea to Canada when he gave a series of workshops in New Brunswick in 1999. Through a national project, Storysacks have been promoted and implemented across Canada and a website developed. Storysacks support parents who may have low literacy skills themselves, or parents who lack confidence to read aloud, by giving them the confidence to engage their children in literacy development. A Storysack is a large cloth bag with specific contents: a good quality children's book, a backdrop and all the props to tell the story, a cassette tape of the story, games that reinforce the themes of the story, a non-fiction book along the same theme as the story and a prompt card to help parents and caregivers take the story to the level of comprehension. Tips on pointing out interesting words and talking about the illustrations in the story are provided. Storysacks are made by groups of people in communities who come together in order to make or gather the artifacts that go into the sacks. This involves drawing upon a variety of skills found within communities. Communities are encouraged to ask for help from senior citizens centres, craft-makers, quilters, and those who sew, knit, or crochet. The sacks are given to local agencies for use by children and their parents, teachers or caregivers. To be called a Storysack, the artifact must be hand-made and hold specific contents.

Training: Contact Jan Greer.

Parents' Roles Interacting with Teacher Support (PRINTS)

PRINTS Family Literacy Network
P.O Box 21121
St. Johns, NL
A1A 5G6

Contact persons:
Dr. William T. Fagan
P.O. Box 21131
St. Johns, NL A1A 5G6
Fax: (709) 895-2057
E-mail: gchabot@roadrunner.nf.net
E-mail: wfagan@mun.ca

Dr. Mary C. Cronin
Faculty of Education
University of Regina
Regina, SK S4S 0A2
Fax: (306) 585-4880
E-mail: mary.cronin@uregina.ca

PRINTS is designed to empower parents to foster the literacy development of their young children. The program is built around the concept of Steps and Roles. The steps are defined as: Books and Book Sharing; Talk and Oral Language; Play; Environmental Print; and Scribbling or Drawing. In order to help children climb the steps to literacy, parents can engage in various roles. These include: Involving the Child, Recognizing/Acknowledging the Child's Participation, Interacting with the Child, Modeling literacy for the Child, and Setting Guidelines for Doing Things Together.

PRINTS is intended to be flexible and involves parents as co-partners in its implementation. The Program runs for twelve sessions of approximately two hours each and is also suitable for preschool and kindergarten teachers. A facilitator's handbook, training manual, and video have been developed as well as a three-day facilitator-training program.

Materials:

PRINTS Parent Video: $12.00
PRINTS Parent Handbook: $8.00

Training: Please contact the developers directly
If an individual cannot attend training sessions they can self-train:
PRINTS train the facilitator Manual: $12.00
PRINTS train the facilitator Video: $20.00
If they attend the training sessions:
PRINTS Facilitators Handbook: $20.00

Parenting programs

The Hanen Program

The Hanen Centre
Suite 515 - 1075 Bay Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5S 2B1

Telephone: (416) 921-1073
Fax: (416) 921-1225
E-mail: info@hanen.org
Website: <www.hanen.org>

Contact: Michelle Lintott: michelle@hanen.org

This program was developed in Canada and has been in use for more than twenty years. The Hanen program is a group teaching program for parents of children with speech and language impairments aged eighteen months to three years. Hanen is led by speech and language pathologists and aims to help parents of such children strengthen their communication skills. Use of videotaping enables parents to see how they interact with their children and shows how to make a difference. In addition, being in a group of parents facing similar difficulties provides opportunities for mutual support. Workshops are also offered to community workers involved in community prevention programs and parent education. These workshops enable community workers, public health nurses and others working with parents and their young children to lead training sessions for other community professionals.

The You Make a Difference Parent-Child Interaction Program is designed for groups of parents to foster the parent-child relationship and promote the child's everyday opportunities to learn social and language skills.

Training: You Make a Difference three-day workshop for community professionals. Through interactive, experiential activities community professionals have an opportunity to observe simulated sessions and to practice leading a group of parents.

Costs: Contact michelle@hanen.org

Learning and Parenting Skills (LAPS)

LAPS Program Authors and Directors
Bow Valley College
332 - 6 Ave SE
Calgary AB T2G 4S6

Telephone: (403) 410-1501
Fax: (403) 297-4949
E-mail: ecairns@bowvalleycollege.ca or lmackenzie@bowvalleycollege.ca
Website: <http://www.nald.ca/laps>

Contact Persons: Elaine Cairns and Laureen MacKenzie.

Literacy and Parenting Skills (LAPS) is an innovative family literacy program designed to provide literacy and parenting skills to at-risk parents who wish such training. LAPS was created and developed at Bow Valley College, Calgary, Alberta, in partnership with the Further Education Society of Alberta. Materials for the curriculum are based on the needs and concerns that are relevant to parents, i.e. discipline, communication. There are four LAPS manuals for: mainstream population groups, aboriginal groups; English as a Second Language groups; and one for Canada's Francophone community.

Materials:
Manuals: Manuals for the various programs run from $29.00-36.00 each.
Videos: Videos for the different programs: $29.00 each.

Training:
Elaine Cairns and Laureen MacKenzie provide two or three day LAPS training workshops to prepare facilitators to set up and operate LAPS family literacy classes in their communities. LAPS training sessions are intended for literacy coordinators, instructors, facilitators, health care workers, volunteer tutors, and community workers who work with at-risk parents.

Cost: Contact authors directly.