What Is Non-Traditional Parenting?

The use of non-traditional parent education programs, such as library preschool story time, can improve outcomes for children at high-risk by providing information and resources to parents in a non-threatening way using an engaging method. As a Children's Librarian in a high-poverty area, reaching under-served children and families in an effort to improve childhood literacy and family engagement is of paramount importance. Early childhood parenting programs are known to improve outcomes for both children and parents (Auger, Stevens & Sontag, 2016), but are not widely available to, or well attended by, families in the area adjacent to the King Family Library (KFL). Therefore, local schools have requested help from the library's Children's Department …show more content…
To this end, story time at KFL includes many aspects of typical parenting programs (Auger et al., 2016) such as instruction about child development and healthy ways for parents and children to interact, community resources, and tips on how to provide emotional support to children as well as using play based activities to teach specific school readiness skills. School readiness includes many areas, which, according to Karoly, Kilburn and Cannon includes specific cognitive skills but also encompasses social behaviors, self regulation, and readiness to learn (pg. 125). Story time currently includes a minimum of four songs and three books, and is followed with free choice play in an enriched early childhood environment which addresses both specific skills and social/emotional …show more content…
The most successful intervention programs have traditionally utilized home visits (Karoly et al., 2005) enabling an educator to assess home environment and parent/child interactions. While home visits are impractical for use in a library setting, the availability of play materials for children makes it more likely that parents will stay and interact with the educator, increasing the likelihood of significant conversation about concerns or issues. Adding more choices for free play may increase this possibility. Another strong predictor of success for intervention programs is the amount of time spent in the program, both in terms of regular attendance and long-term involvement (Karoly et al., 2005). A baby/toddler story time was implemented at KFL this year, which addresses the longevity issue, but currently there is no strategy in place to increase the number of weekly contact hours. The findings indicate that implementing a second weekly story time for each age group might be beneficial due to increased contact