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The REDI Parenting program (REDI-P) was designed to complement the classroom program in order to enhance the school readiness of economically-disadvantaged preschoolers attending Head Start. Parallel to the classroom program, REDI-P focused on the two broad child skill domains most centrally related to the socio-economic “gap” in school readiness – language/emergent literacy skills and social-emotional competencies, and sought to increase home-school collaboration and synchrony. REDI-P began work with parents during the spring of the child’s pre-kindergarten year in Head Start and extended support for parents across the child’s transition to kindergarten.
Methods:
Children and their parents were recruited from Head Start classrooms utilizing the REDI classroom enhancement program. Participants included two cohorts of four-year-old children (total N = 210, 55 % girls; 20 % Hispanic, 25 % African-American, 55 % European American). At the time of assessment, children were, on average 4.80 years old (SD = .29, range = 4.26–5.36). These children were randomly assigned at the level of the child to receive the REDI-P home visiting program or, alternatively, to receive math games through the mail to use with their child.
The REDI-P intervention included twice-monthly home visits (10 in prekindergarten, 6 in kindergarten). Each month, parents received a “REDI activity club” box at the visit, containing learning materials and games for parents to do with their children. These included activities to support language/emergent literacy skill development (interactive reading, letter and sound games, print centers) and activities to support social-emotional skill development (modeling stories, daily routines, and compliment/reward charts). Home visitors also provided support for using materials in the activity boxes, coaching parents in communication skills, emotion coaching, and the use of problem-solving dialogue.
Results:
Post-test assessments conducted at the end of kindergarten revealed significant REDI-P intervention effects on letter-sound knowledge (d = .34, p < .05), teacher-rated literacy skills (d = .26, p < .05), teacher-rated academic performance (d = .27, p < .05), and teacher-rated social competence (d = .30, p < .03). Interestingly, the control group, who received math games in the mail, out-performed the intervention group on a math achievement test.
Conclusions:
Adding a complementary parenting program (REDI-P) to the classroom REDI program had significant added benefits for children. Supporting parents in the use of learning games and activities at home that parallel efforts of Head Start teachers enhances the sustained impact of prekindergarten enrichment for low-income children.