Parent Partnerships
The Partners for Literacy (PfL) parent component - Parent Partnerships - helps parents prepare their children for school success. Parent Partnerships focuses on positive parent-child relationships, parent-child Interactive Book Reading, LearningGames, and Enriched Caregiving. Parents also learn a problem solving model that addresses everyday problems and issues in child rearing.
PfL's Parent Partnership goals include helping parents encourage and facilitate children's language and literacy skills as well as their social and emotional development. Parents learn instructional strategies for scaffolding children's learning. These integrated components make PfL highly appropriate for family literacy programs.
Curriculum Goals
- oral language and vocabulary
- concepts of print
- phonological awareness
- alphabet knowledge
- comprehension
- early writing
- early numeracy
- content knowledge
- social/emotional development
- problem solving
Instructional Strategies
Interactive Book Reading
Interactive Book Reading is a set of specific strategies that help parents learn to have a conversation with their child while reading. These conversations help children with oral language and knowledge about print. Three key strategies are used for Interactive Book Reading:
- 3S Strategy
- Wh Questions
- Expanded Book Reading
The 3S Strategy- See, Show, Say - refers to the different levels of response required of a child during any Interactive Book Reading session. Using this strategy, parents learn how to individualize based on their child’s skill level. Parents first ask their child to “see” or look at a specific feature of the book, such as the bear in Brown Bear, Brown Bear. If their child follows this direction, parents can then the child to “show” an object or word on the page. If their child can follow this direction, parents can then ask the child to “say” a word or answer a question. In this way, parents prompt multiple responses from their child, encouraging attending behavior and building on their child's individual abilities.
Wh Questions- Who, What, When, Where, Why - are used once a child has reached the “Say” level of the 3S Strategy. Wh Questions provide parents with structure for engaging their children in conversation. They also help parents to support the development of their children's comprehension skills.
Expanded Book Reading is used to increase children’s motivation and to promote comprehension. Parents can:
- ask the child to predict what the book might be about
- provide an overview of the book
- talk about the characters, events, and setting
- help the child connect the story to his or her life
- use props such as puppets to help bring meaning to the story
- ask the child to retell the story
3N Strategy
The 3N Strategy - Notice, Nudge, Narrate - is a scaffolding strategy that helps the parent move their child from a current level of knowledge or skill to a higher level of competence. Using the 3N Strategy, parents can turn any activity into a learning experience for their child. Parents first "notice" their child's skill level. Then, they verbally "nudge" their child to do more. Finally, they "narrate" their child's actions or activities. Parents can use the 3N Strategy while playing LearningGames with their child and during Enriched Caregiving.
Enriched Caregiving
Children’s language and cognitive development are promoted through a strategy called Enriched Caregiving. Parents can use Enriched Caregiving strategies to turn everyday routines and activities into significant learning opportunities. Parents can use the 3N Strategy, during Enriched Caregiving, to notice their child’s skill level then purposefully nudge him or her to a slightly higher skill level.
Problem Solving
The PfL Curriculum includes both strategies and materials designed to help parents cope with everyday situations. Parent educators can use the PfL Problem Solving Manual to teach parents an effective problem solving model. This seven-step model helps parents learn to identify a problem, set goals, and consider possible solutions and their consequences. Parents can then learn to make a decision about which possible solution seems best, try it out, and evaluate its effectiveness.
Curriculum Materials for Parent Partnerships
- LearningGames
- Basic Concepts
- Children's Books
LearningGames
LearningGames: The Abecedarian Curriculum, consists of activities for parents and children that enhance child development. LearningGames are available for children from birth to 60 months. LearningGames are easy for parents to learn and to use with their children. The games help children with social and emotional development, including identifying needs and feelings and learning to share and cooperate. They also help with cognitive and creative skills. All games include an emphasis on oral language.
Basic Concepts
Parent educators help parents learn ways to promote their children’s understanding of many basic concepts. Basic Concepts include a set of activity cards that can be used by parents to teach concepts such as “more” or “less” and “in” or “out.” Parents and parent educators discuss how to use items in the home and in the classroom to teach these concepts.
Children’s Books
Little Conversation Books are designed to help parents have a meaningful conversation with their child while reading a book. These instructional conversations help children build early literacy skills, including oral language, vocabulary, letter knowledge, rhyming, alliteration, and story sequence. Little Conversation Books have simple text and pictures and are easily reproducible.
Conversation Books- Bilingual Conversation Books (English and Spanish) are designed to provide parents with instructional support and strategies to help their young children get ready to read. Each book has text that guides the parent in using the 3S Strategy to promote parent-child interaction.
