Literacy and Parenting (LAPS)

Developed in Alberta by Elaine Cairns and Laureen Mackenzie, LAPS is a training program for family literacy practitioners. Once trained, a LAPS facilitator can provide weekly sessions in which participants improve their literacy skills, learn how to instill good literacy practices in their children and start to look at learning in a positive way.

Parent-Child Mother Goose Program

Developed by Celia Lottridge, this non-profit charitable organization has operated several on-going parent and child groups in the Toronto area since 1986. Since 1993 the program has developed training workshops and resources that enable other organizations to offer the program. Parents and their young children attend weekly sessions (usually in ten-week cycles) for about one and a half hours each week. Activities centre on oral literature - rhymes, songs, and stories, with parents and children all seated in a circle. Teaching is directed to parents with children participating, napping or wandering, as is appropriate to their age. There is informal discussion of how rhymes can be used in daily life. The program accommodates families who are non-English users. Resource materials (rhyme collections, songs, stories) and a program video are available in facilitator training.

Parents’ Roles Interacting with Teacher Support (PRINTS)

Developed by Drs. William T. Fagan and Mary C. Cronin, this program is designed to empower parents to foster the literacy development of their young children. Parents are empowered to take on five literacy roles across five contexts of a child’s life: talk, play, environmental print, books and book sharing, and scribbling/drawing/writing. PRINTS is structured, yet flexible, and parents become co-partners in its implementation. The program runs for 12 sessions of approximately two hours each and is also suitable for preschool and kindergarten teachers. Facilitator training includes three-day workshops with facilitator’s handbook, training manual, and facilitator training video. Program materials include a parent video and parent handbook.

Reading and Parents Program (RAPP)

Developed by Kingston Literacy, the Reading and Parents Program was started in 1990 when the first RAPP packs were assembled. Each pack includes a book suitable for a child between 2 and a half and 5 years of age, tips for parents on how to use the pack to develop their children’s language skills, a selection of poetry, activity sheets, a craft idea and materials necessary to make the craft. RAPP packs are used regularly by parent- child groups, and are an excellent resource for modeling how to read with a child.