Reading Partnership

for Parents (RPP)

RPP is a 6- to 12-week long program that empowers parents and caregivers with the tools to teach their children how to read.

At the moment, this program isn’t open. We want to start it up soon. If you want to get it back up and running, please consider donating.

Ages 4-6

Each class is made up of six parts:

Check In

Snack

Set-up Activity Stations

Instructional Time

Interactive Time

Child-minding

Story Time

Mini-Lessons

Reflect/debriefing

Impact of

the program:

This unique learning model focuses on giving parents the skill and confidence to:

  • Contribute positively to their child’s success and opportunities
  • Share meaningfully in their child’s development and learning journey
  • Improve their own literacy skills, build confidence and create opportunities
  • Be a powerful and supportive advocate of literacy

Reading
Partnership for

Black Parents (RPBP)

Did you know The KGO has a very large and vibrant African and Caribbean community? As a whole, they face more barriers to educational success. Our research shows that fewer Black children pass the EQAO test than others their age. This means a large part of our neighbourhood is being held back from their reaching their potential.

Ages 4-6

RPBP is a 6- to 12-week program grounded in the diverse cultures of Black families. You learn the same things as those in the RPP program, but RPBP has the needs of the black community in mind. Through this program, we:

Develop lesson plans that are tailored to their experiences as black parents.

Inspire black youth as volunteers and black professionals as advisors.

Allow parents to share their own strengths and perspectives with each other.

Engage with black community partners.

Program

features

  • Support and provide tools for dealing with challenges faced by the black community in education systems
  • Take-home mini-lessons to practice together as a family
  • Fun games and activities
  • Learning kits with reading tools
  • Easy-to-follow lesson plans
  • Daycare for children
  • Free meal

Spotlight on

Literacy (SOL)

Once a year we host a free community gathering to talk about different literacy challenges in the KGO community and connect parents to helpful resources and supports. This event is fun and lively, with a blend of speakers, interactive workshops and activities, information booths and entertainment for the whole family to enjoy.

Each year, the event is hosted in a local school and over 250 families come together to share, learn and connect in an upbeat, friendly environment. Since we started in 2013, we are proud to say over 1200 people have attended SOL and more than 9000 books have been donated for families to take home.

Event features:
  • Connect people with local support and guidance
  • Free childcare for children ages 2-12
  • Live music
  • Over 1000 free books
  • Community bonding
  • Lively discussions with guest speakers
  • Skill building workshops
  • Free hot meals

Learning

Materials

We’re very proud of our learning materials. We’ve created effective resources and tools to give early readers a jump start. If you would like to learn more about or purchase these items, please contact us.

Our thoughtfully developed Sound Cards can be used to teach kids the sounds they need to read simple words and stories.
  • There are 36 different sound cards
  • We provide visual cues of familiar words to help children remember the sounds
  • Each sound is either a ‘stretchy’ or ‘bouncy’ to help children figure out how to make that sound
We also have the Sound Cards in colouring book form with lines to practice writing letters.
Once they master all the letters, they move on to words
  • Each card has a fingerprint under the letters to remind children to sound it out little by little
Not all words can be sounded out. That’s why we made Sight Word cards
  • These are common words that kids need to commit to memory
  • The googly eyes on the back remind them to “see & say” these words

These materials were
designed by Amy He

We met Amy when she was a student at Sheridan College’s Faculty of Animation, Art and Design. Amy now works as an artist and designer in Vancouver’s animation industry. She’s passionate about creating content for children that is visually engaging and educational, ensuring that kids have the tools they need for success! Her past projects include My Little Pony, The Littlest Pet Shop and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.