Parents in Partnership looks not only at the mechanics of getting parents involved in the schools, but also at metacognition and the understanding of how one learns that can develop in the parent. The goal is to develop a recognition of the value of learning by both the parent and the child. Objectives include having parents get over the feeling of uncomfortableness or inferiority when it comes to dealing with teachers or the classroom situation.

Parent-Child Mother Goose Program
One of the most recent family literacy models to come to Alberta is the Parent-Child Mother Goose Program. Based on a project piloted in Toronto in 1984, the program is aimed primarily at parents who feel unsure of their ability to communicate with and enjoy their children, or speak English with difficulty because it is not their first language.

Parents are usually divided into two groups: birth to 2 1/2 years and 2 to 4 years. Once a week the parents and their children meet to learn rhymes and songs together. They sit in a circle on the floor, with lots of holding, touching, bouncing, and laughter. The idea is to introduce the parents and children to the magic of language. The session ends with a story told to the parents so they too can appreciate the joy of language and listening. During the 30-week program (ten weeks at a time), parents gain skills and confidence while children are introduced to language and memory development. Equally important, parents build a repertoire of rhymes, songs, and stories, regardless of their literacy skills. As the sessions progress, and parents feel more comfortable with each other, rhymes from other cultures are shared as well.

Among the benefits cited for the program are bonding between the parent and child; pleasurable ways to deal with fussy, cranky times; strengthening language and memory skills; the pleasure of listening to stories while building up a verbal library; cost-free family fun which strengthens emotional and intellectual development; and a relaxed atmosphere which helps build lasting friendships.

One noteworthy aspect of the program is that the majority of Mother Goose teachers in Toronto, where the program has been operating for eleven years, came into the program as participants.