For over 20 years, Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities’ Rob Chang has been providing Motheread/Fatheread® programming to incarcerated women and men on the island of Oʻahu. These programs encourage incarcerated parents to maintain and/or recover connections to their children by helping them understand their children’s reactions to incarceration and consider the various aspects of parent and child development.
From the Motheread/Fatheread® Website:
The Motheread/Fatheread® 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. Parents not only learn the “why” of reading with their children, but also the “how.” 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.