Kinderstart- Pre-Kindergarten Orientation
No doubt there are many programs across the country which provide some sort of experience for children prior to their entry into kindergarten. These may be known by various titles. Recently, such a program initiated province wide in Newfoundland and Labrador is known as Kinderstart. This basically involves parents and children attending pre-kindergarten sessions for a number of times (this varies by school district), and receiving a book bag, crayons and writing materials, small books, etc. Parents participate in learning activities they may use with children. Since this is being initiated this year, there are no data on the success of its implementation. Also there are no data on how unsuccessful children were in making the transition to kindergarten on a province-wide basis. As pointed out from the UNESCO paper in the Editorial of this Newsletter, it is important to keep in focus that parents/guardians and communities are the key stakeholders in children's literacy learning. As was also pointed out, low-income parents are faced with the greatest challenges in supporting their young children. If any kind of school based/government sponsored pre-kindergarten program is to be successful, schools must partner with the parents and community. This does not just mean inviting or expecting parents to attend designated sessions. There must be an effort to understand parents 'and communities and any contributions they are currently making towards their young children's learning. Those many parents who are participating in PRINTS are making a major contribution. This must be understood and recognized. If schools do not do this, parents may misunderstand that what they are doing through PRINTS (and other family literacy programs) is not as valuable as that which is offered through schools. We know that is not the case. Consequently, parents who have been involved in PRINTS must be recognized by schools and praised for their commitment and dedication. Government and schools should reinforce and support what is going on in communities and families.

Aboriginal PRINTS: A Work in Progress
There is always an effort to make the PRINTS Program more responsive to different groups of parents. PRINTS has been used with Aboriginal parents in a number of provinces, including Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Newfoundland. The model on which PRINTS is based (STEPS and ROLES) is a viable model across cultures. However, the images, nature of social interaction, nursery rhymes and stories may differ by culture. A supplement to the current Program would reflect these and other factors. Dr. Mary Cronin and Leona Harasym from Regina have taken the initiative in developing this extension of the Program. Any ideas, suggestions, etc. may be directed to either of the co-authors (see page 1 of Newsletter for contact information).

Research on PRINTS: From the Transfer of Learning in Parent-Focussed Family Literacy Programs by William T. Fagan (2001)

Literacy does not take place in a vacuum. Two British researchers (Barton and Hamilton, 1998) were among the first to describe when, where, how, and why literacy occurs. A literacy event is not just engaging in reading or writing related tasks in isolation. A literacy event consists of people behaviours and can be described in terms of participants (those who initiate the event and those who take part), time, place, activities and materials, goals, and feedback or closure. By understanding literacy as events, family literacy facilitators are better able to understand the context in which literacy development occurs, and take advantage of opportunities for promoting literacy development. Fifty (50) literacy events of parents who had participated in the PRINTS training were described. Most of these consisted of activities that were included in the PRINTS Program (Climb the Ladder, Storytelling Cues, Matching Labels and Products, Alphabet House, etc.)