PRINTS stands for Parents' Roles INteracting with Teacher Support. PRINTS is a family literacy program mainly for parents/guardians of preschool children.

PRINTS is celebrating its 13th year this year. As a program developed by volunteers and administered by volunteers, it has been quite successful over that period of time. There are no paid staff involved with sharing and disseminating the materials for the PRINTS Program. There have been no sustainable funds for promotion. PRINTS embodies high standards, in terms of providing quality experiences for parents and children, and for training parents to facilitate the program with children. PRINTS is soundly based on five STEPS to literacy: reading to and with children, oral language, play, environmental print, and scribbling/drawing/ writing. There are 5 roles that parents take in working with their children: understanding Activities and why they are used, finding opportunities, providing positive feedback for children, setting guidelines for the children, and modeling literacy behaviour. There are now two levels: one directed at parents of children ages 0-2, and one for parents ages 3-6. It also integrates literacy and health building activities. Quality takes time, and the 12 weeks of training for parents ensures that they administer the program effectively and efficiently. A research project, directed by Dr. Julia O'Sullivan and Ms. Janet Goosney, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, and guided by an International Committee on Research and Education, is aimed at understanding how children in Northern Canada are initiated into literacy and become successful readers. In an initial survey, they discovered that the most common structured family literacy program across Northern Canada, from High Level, AB, to Moose Factory, ON, to Port Hope Simpson, Labrador, is PRINTS. The fact that PRINTS has had such an impact, is due to the leadership of a number of high quality community leaders, and educators.