Adults who need to improve their literacy skills and the child or children for whom they are responsible are the target population.

Parenting education is offered and literacy activities are provided so adults can attain a level of proficiency in basic skills that is sufficient to meet individuals' goals and social and economic demands for proficiency.

Literacy, pre-literacy, and developmentally appropriate activities for children are provided.

There are formal and/or informal activities with varying degrees of systematic adult and child interactions focusing on parents as teachers.

The programs serve as a liaison with community agencies which focus their resources in basic problems faced by the families. (2-3)

Rationale for family literacy
A child's literacy development begins at birth, and is shaped by his or her experiences in the home environment. Supporting parents and caregivers of young children in their role as their children's first teachers can have a positive impact on the child's emerging literacy skills and attitudes toward learning. This positive impact has implications not only for the child's future success in school but for their entire lifetime (Nickse 1989, Morrow 1989, Heath 1983, Taylor and Dorsey-Gaines 1988).

Early intervention for the purpose of impacting children's literacy skills is not the only rationale for family literacy, however. These programs may also improve parents' and caregivers' literacy levels, promote parental involvement in their children's education, and encourage positive home-school relationships (Padak et al 5). Perhaps as important as skill development and taking a more active role in education, family literacy has important implications for relationships within the family:

The goal of a family literacy program is to enhance the lives of parents and children through the joy of reading, and not incidentally, to also improve the literacy skills, attitudes, values and behaviours of both. Evidence from adult basic education, early childhood education, cognitive science, emergent literacy and family systems theory tells of the importance of adults in children's early literacy development. Sharing books in families, when appropriately undertaken, sets a pattern for talking together about things and ideas, and adds to the pleasure of each other's company. Through shared activities, the social uses of literacy are incorporated along with orientations to concepts about books and print materials, and the cognitive tasks of asking and answering questions which are so important to the children's school success….
Quezada and Nickse 1992: 7