This document is the first report on an evaluation of the Parents as First Teachers Programme (PAFT) in New Zealand, an established parent education and support service for parents of children birth to age three. This preliminary report details the findings of an analysis of a family exit survey completed by 400 families participating in PAFT.…

Examined the impact of a program in Quebec to improve parents' abilities to introduce their preschoolers to the written word. Found evidence for parents' progress and gains in skills. Concluded that the program has significant potential for parental skill development. (Author/KB)

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education developed a pilot parent education program that began in 1981 and was available to parents of children in the state's 543 school districts. In 1984, the state legislature provided funding for the program and mandated that it be made available to all parents of children under 3 years of…

Describes the Support at Home for Early Language and Literacies (SHELLS) project, an early literacy intervention for families of children between birth and age 3 in rural Australia. Findings from monitoring suggest that this collaborative, flexible model has the potential to assist families from a range of social, cultural, economic, and…

Using interviews and videotaped observations, this study examined family contributions to their 5-year-olds' literacy development in a 5-month family literacy program developed by their children's teachers. Results suggested that children's literacy can be developed through everyday family experiences and that the richest resource for literacy…

This report describes the early childhood education programs of the Des Moines Independent Community School District and evaluates their strengths and weakness. A description of each of the district's 15 programs and services for children from birth to 8 years of age is given, along with vignettes demonstrating how the programs affect the lives of…

The Daycare Book-a-thon is a project that targets at-risk preschoolers, providing books donated from preservice teachers in a children's literature course along with bookmarks highlighting ways parents can read and extend the books with their children at home. Through this activity, preservice teachers come to understand the diverse student…

This booklet advocates and describes the establishment of community run preschool and day care centers. The type described is based on the Laborie Community Education Centre in Saint Lucia, West Indies. Chapter 1 advocates establishing small, local institutions that are community managed, community owned, concerned with quality, and sustainable.…

This report describes an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Oklahoma City Public Schools' Even Start Family Literacy Project (ESFLP). The ESFLP sought to: (1) improve parents' basic literacy and employment skills; (2) enable parents to take a teaching-guiding role with their children; (3) encourage parents to become true partners with schools…

The Kansas City, Missouri, School District's Early Childhood Development program consists of the Parents as Teachers (PAT) and Early Learning Centers (ELC) programs. Both PAT and the ELC programs have a screening component, with PAT screening children from 12 to 36 months of age and ELC screening 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children. The ELC…