Pre-K PAP was developed as a tool to empower families and communities with information, resources, and training to help them foster children's early literacy and reading abilities, making use of opportunities already present in their daily lives, including their culture and home language.  The Pre-K PAP workshop is an eight week series, which includes:

• Planning Session
• Session 1:  The Development of the Whole Child
• Session 2:  Language Development in Babies, Toddlers, and Preschool age Children
• Session 3:  Early Math Experiences for Young Children
• Session 4:  What Parents Should Know About Kindergarten Expectations
• Session 5:  What Parents Need to Know to Prepare their Children for Kindergarten
• Session 6:  Dialogue with the Principal
• Graduation

For more information, contact Nicole Gillis at mmusgrove@mcsdc.org or 202-552-7160.

The Family Book Club program is offered in partnership with CentroNia.  The purpose of the Family Books Club is to increase the literacy skills, language development and school readiness of children ages 0-5 while simultaneously strengthening parental literacy skills.  To achieve this, parents and children are brought together in small groups to read, share stories, and build relationships based on mutual trust and respect in a multicultural setting.

The Mother Goose Parent Education workshops are offered in partnership with the DC Public Library.  Mother Goose Parent Education workshops assist parents and providers understand the importance of teaching math, science and reading skills to children at an early age.  Parents discuss topics such as:

• Strategies for selecting great books
• Hands-on activities in science and math
• Current research in the area of child development
• Skills in group facilitation
• Techniques for expanding their children's vocabulary

Through donations in books from Books for America, DC PIRC is able to offer each center a supply of children's literature to build their current libraries.  The children are given bags to transport books from the center to their homes and asked to return them the next day.  The purpose of the Book Sharing Program is to encourage parent interaction and involvment in the development of their children's literacy skills.  The act of sharing is emphasized to shrengthen the connection between the early childhood center and the home environment by expanding and enriching the child's entire learning community.