Young Children Learn When Parents and Caregivers Receive Instruction That Is Specific and Meaningful

The techniques we use for training parents and caregivers are based on our own experiences as well as on research findings beginning to emerge from family literacy training programs. Primary findings we have implemented in these materials are:

• Effective training methods provide explicit teaching of the behaviors that parents are then expected to practice with their children. Research indicates that parent training programs are effective when trainers are skilled (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998: p. 145), and when they provide opportunities for parents to practice specific techniques during training sessions (Paratore, 2001: pp. 90-92; 98-99). We implement this finding through activities characterized by:
  
  1. objectives-based instruction
  2. trainers modeling the behaviors and strategies taught to parents
  3. opportunity for parents to experience guided practice of those techniques.

• Successful training involves families in learning content that is useful to them
  (Snow, Burns & Griffin, 1998: p.147). Anecdotal findings regarding what parents seek from training programs identifies that parents appreciate learning strategies that assist them in interacting with their children in a variety of ways (Paratore,2001: pp. 46-47). Our materials implement this finding through emphasis on teaching parents "pivotal behaviors." Pivotal behaviors have been defined as those that "produce generalized improvements in a variety of areas that did not directly receive intervention" (Koegel, Koegel, Harrower & Carter, 1999). We expect that the pivotal behaviors contained in our programs will facilitate parents in managing their children's behaviors, in helping their children with homework, and in facilitating their children's learning in general. The pivotal behaviors that we have chosen to teach adults are:
  
  1. engaging and keeping a child's attention
  2. taking turns with children
  3. encouraging learning by imitation
  4. expanding on a child's statement
  5. rewarding children's attempts to learn
  6. responding to children's mistakes by using prompting and patience vs. harsh reactions.
  
  
• Successful training focuses on content that is culturally meaningful. Whether we are training parents (Paratore, 2001: p. 91) or caregivers (Taylor, 1999), building on and respecting trainees' personal experiences is critical. Our materials attempt to meet this through:
  
  1. highlighting a variety of literacy materials as opposed to only using storybooks. Our materials and programs include fiction and non-fiction books, as well as songs and rhymes. We include the reading of songs or rhymes in each program. This is based on cross-cultural findings that many parents already sing to their children regularly (West, Denton, and Germino- Hausken, 2000: p. 51). Including rhythmic texts will provide all families with at least some materials
  2. suggesting parent-child activities based on real-world experiences such as grocery shopping.
  3. including resources particular to Pennsylvania, for example, in the animal workshop we list zoos and animal parks that families might visit.