# Connecting Through Talk

One of the core messages in _Connecting Through Talk_ is that any effort that supports the quality and quantity of parent–child communication will have long-lasting positive impacts on children’s development. Section II of the book provides snapshots of more than a dozen programs that support language and literacy development by coaching parents and providing books for all young children.

This handout provides an at-a-glance look at the programs profiled. Each of these programs promotes thoughtful, responsive adult–child interactions and expands young children’s access to books. Below you will find a listing of each program that includes its mission, a brief description, and a link to the organization’s website.

## Parent Coaching Programs

### Play and Learning Strategies (PALS)
- **Mission:** To strengthen the bond among infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and their parents and enhance young children’s language, social, and cognitive growth in order to promote positive developmental outcomes.
- **Brief:** PALS originated in Texas as a home-visit program available in English and Spanish and implemented by trained parent educators through 90-minute home visits (10 sessions for the infant curriculum and 12 sessions for the toddler curriculum per year). Some states are adapting the program for implementation in group settings and with more diverse populations. Training includes having parents view and discuss video examples of parent-child interactions and guiding parents in practicing the demonstrated techniques with their own children.
- **Website:** [www.childrenslearninginstitute.org/programs/play-and-learning-strategies-pals](www.childrenslearninginstitute.org/programs/play-and-learning-strategies-pals)

### Video Interaction Project (VIP)
- **Mission:** Empowering parents and providing children from low-income families with an early foundation to succeed.

### Thirty Million Words Project (TMW)
- **Mission:** Develops and tests language-focused interventions that are being designed for use through different delivery mechanisms, including the medical system and home visiting programs.
- **Brief:** TMW is a set of related projects that are working through health-delivery systems to help parents and programs support language development among low-income populations and children with hearing loss.
- **Website:** [www.tmwcenter.uchicago.edu](www.tmwcenter.uchicago.edu)

### Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY)
- **Mission:** To help vulnerable children achieve long-term academic success, improve parent–child relationships, and increase parent involvement in their children’s schools and communities.
- **Brief:** HIPPY is a long-standing home visiting program focused on families of children aged 3–5 that is highly scripted and has a clear academic focus. It has a widespread presence in the United States and is available in several other countries around the world. Its research base includes studies conducted in Texas, New York, and Arkansas, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services evaluated it as being an evidence-based early childhood home visiting service delivery model for the general population.
- **Website:** [www.hippyusa.org](www.hippyusa.org)

### Save the Children
- **Brief:** Save the Children was established after World War I and now serves children in 120 countries, focusing on the most deprived and marginalized and addressing five broad areas of need—health and nutrition, education, child protection, child poverty, and protecting the rights of children. Literacy and child development outcomes are integral to its focus.
- **Website:** [www.savethechildren.net](www.savethechildren.net)

### Bookstart (BoekStart)
- **Mission:** Bookstart is a program that aims to promote reading with very young children and allow parents with young children to enjoy books.
- **Brief:** Bookstart programs work to encourage parents of newborns to read to their infants. The programs operate through local libraries and supply parents with a broad selection of books and information about new books. Tips for reading to children are provided through print and online materials as well as in-person meetings.
- **Website:** [www.boekstartpro.nl/home.html](www.boekstartpro.nl/home.html)

### Sifriyat Pijama and Maktabat al-Fanoos
- **Mission:** To promote early literacy and cultural values through book distribution in schools.
- **Brief:** Sifriyat Pijama and Maktabat al-Fanoos are nationwide, parallel programs in Israel promoting reading among Hebrew- and Arabic-speaking families, respectively. Books are delivered to teachers for the children and classroom, along with supporting lesson plans.
- **Website:** Sifriyat Pijama - [www.eng.pjisrael.org](http://www.eng.pjisrael.org)  Maktabat al-Fanoos - [www.al-fanoos.org/english](http://www.al-fanoos.org/english)

Adapted from _Connecting Through Talk: Nurturing Children’s Development With Language_ by David K. Dickinson, Ed.D., & Ann B. Morse, M.Ed. ©2019 Brookes Publishing Co. All rights reserved.