Motheread/Fatheread Colorado Teaches Parents How To Read With Their Kids

Motheread/Fatheread Colorado trains facilitators to work with groups of parents of infants through early elementary school in a series of sessions proven to raise children’s Language Scores* and help them to discover the vital link between literature and life.

The curriculum uses children’s books and adult poems and narratives to teach literacy-promoting skills to adults. Each lesson in the 29-lesson curriculum includes a variety of ways to develop parents and children’s literacy skills.

Participating parents, no matter what their reading level, read aloud more actively and frequently, promoting home reading behaviors that improve children’s school success. Enjoying reading together and talking about the issues in the stories and their lives results in better communications, reasoning abilities, critical thinking and decision-making skills. The children’s literature that parents learn to share was chosen for its expression of social-emotional themes, cultural diversity, and beautiful illustrations. Parents report that children exhibit more interest in rhyme, interaction with books and awareness of words in their environment.

Colorado Humanities provides training, curricula, books, coaching, and may be able to partner with you to raise funds for implementation at your site. Trained facilitators receive certification, 2.0 CEUs from North Carolina State University and a curriculum that includes strategies for working with English Language Learners and materials in English and Spanish.

*Children whose parents participated the program showed higher rates of growth on Teaching Strategies Gold Language Domain