ParentChild+

ParentChild+ envisions every child entering school ready to succeed because every parent has the knowledge and resources to build school readiness where it starts: the home.

ParentChild+ is an evidence-based early literacy, parental engagement and school readiness model committed to closing the achievement gap by providing families with the knowledge, skills and materials they need to prepare their children for success in pre-kindergarten and beyond.

The program’s Early Literacy Specialists come into the homes of families with children aged 2-4 who do not have access to quality early childhood programming. They help parents build language-rich home environments that enhance children’s literacy, cognitive and social emotional skills, while supporting the transition to pre-K. 

Selected at a time when only 33% of third graders in Philadelphia were reading at grade level, GreenLight worked with ParentChild+ to build local partnerships with the Philadelphia Housing Authority and Public Health Management Corporation in order to reach thousands of families across Philadelphia. 

In 50 years of evaluation, ParentChild+ has documented impacts for program participants: graduates enter school as well or better prepared than their classmates, perform significantly better than their socioeconomic peers and as well as or better than the overall population on school readiness measures in kindergarten and first grade, and are reading and doing math on grade level in third grade.