Motheread/Fatheread CNMI: Pivoting Family Literacy Services during the Covid-19 PandemicMotheread/Fatheread® CNMI offers the Adult Course comprised of 29 lessons spread out across eight, one-hour class sessions. The curriculum uses children’s books, and adult poems and narratives to teach literacy skills to adults, with an emphasis on developing skills in all four areas of literacy: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Additionally, the lessons help parents understand the importance of reading regularly to their children. This nationally recognized instructional model and curriculum addresses a variety of teaching approaches and learning styles, combining individual assignments with small group work, lectures, and discussion.
Each Adult Course features a complementary Story Exploring session for children of adult participants. Story Exploring sessions are designed for children from birth through age 11 and use multicultural children’s books to build reading and critical thinking skills. This curriculum uses targeted reading, writing, listening, and speaking activities to foster problem solving, increase comprehension, and nurture a love of books. Children learn vocabulary and how to interpret stories using props, games, songs, and other activities to make reading fun.
The first iteration of this program was created twenty-three years ago by the Northern Marianas Humanities Council to help families routinely use reading and storytelling as a medium for enhancing literacy. School principals, teachers, library staff, and social service providers have been an integral partner in this endeavor and have leveraged this program to help parents effectively engage children in learning through reading and storytelling in their homes. Pivoting our work to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge. Our Motheread/Fatheread® CNMI team have undergone training during the early stages of strict social distancing to adopt new virtual and hybrid strategies for learning and engagement. This presentation will explore how Motheread/Fatheread® CNMI, which is a grassroots family literacy program administered by the Northern Marianas Humanities Council in partnership with the CNMI Public School System and the Joeten-Kiyu Public Library, pivoted access to family literacy services to our CNMI community in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
