PRINTS Helps Parents Foster Early Learning

The PRINTS Family Literacy Network grew out of the idea that parents and teachers can work together to provide children with the best possible opportunities for literacy development. PRINTS stands for Parents Roles INteracting with Teacher Support. Begun at the MacMorran Community Centre in St. John's, Newfoundland, the PRINTS model encourages parents and other caregivers to engage very young children in literacy-promoting activities at home. Through the 12-week program, participants learn to use talking, reading, play, drawing and scribbling, and print materials in the environment (such as street signs and food packaging) as a springboard to encourage literacy skills.

From its modest beginnings, the PRINTS model has now spread across Canada to communities in Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba. The PRINTS Family Literacy Network publishes a twice-yearly newsletter, runs trainthe- trainer workshops, and has a number of print and video resources for parents and facilitators. The Regina Learning Centre, which works with many aboriginal learners, is developing an aboriginal supplement to the PRINTS model. And a new family literacy program called "STEPS" (Strategy Teaching, Empowerment, Partnerships, and Success) has just been launched to address parents and teachers of children in grades one to nine. For more information on PRINTS, contact Dr. William Fagan at tel: 709-895-2022 or email: wfagan@mun.ca or Dr. Mary Cronin at tel: 306-585-5229 or email: cronin@leroy.cc.uregina.ca. You can also find PRINTS on the web at www.nald.ca/prints.

Weaving Literacy into Family and Community Life

In 2000, the partnership of the Canadian Association of Family Resource Programs (FRP Canada) and the Movement for Canadian Literacy (MCL) created a series of resource guides entitled Weaving Literacy into Family and Community Life. Although family resource programs were receptive to promote literacy in their programs, they also requested more direct support and information in order to make connections and partnerships with literacy agencies in their communities. As a result, a new project by MCL and FRP Canada is now preparing training based on the Weaving Literacy materials. The goal is to support family resource programs and literacy organizations to integrate literacy initiatives into their communities.

The project will conduct training events on a regional level in 'teams' that include representatives from both literacy and family support projects. After initial training, the project will support ongoing collaboration as the teams develop their literacy action plans. Aboriginal literacy and Francophone literacy needs are integral to this project that is aiming to keep training close to the community level.

Applications have now been received from family resource programs. Successful applicants will be asked to find a literacy partner from their community to attend the training. Stay tuned for updates as this project unfolds. For more information, contact Janice MacAulay at tel: 613-237-7667 (ext. 222) or email: macaulay@frp.ca or Suzanne Smythe at: smythemu@interchange.ubc.ca or Bonnie Soroke at: bsoroke@thehub.literacy.bc.ca.