Parents and Schools Together to Enhance Learning (PASTEL) Program

There are 3 main goals:

1. Improve children’s emerging and early literacy skills by offering parents/caregivers fun, easy-to-use, and research-based literacy activities that can be used at home;
2. Increase positive communication between teachers and families in a way that is meaningful, time-efficient, and centered around a child’s developing literacy skills; and
3. Provide parents with helpful information that should enhance their understanding of literacy development, their communication with educators in schools, and their child’s overall success in school.

PASTEL activities are:

• Organized by the students age and/or grade
• Organized by one of the four (4) critical skill areas a child should develop by age 12:
  • Emerging Literacy (such as language skills and identifying letters)
  • Phonics
  • Text Reading Fluency
  • Comprehension

Each activity comes with:

• easy to use instructions about how to engage the child with the activity
• printable materials (if needed)
• a brief video demonstration

Each description will also include other information, such as how long the activity should be used with the child and fun ways to modify the activity.

PASTEL development was led by six individuals with diverse areas of experience and expertise, including but not limited to areas such as using effective literacy instruction for children birth to grade 6, instructional design for usable reading activities, home-school-community collaboration, educational research, home-based literacy development, reading development for dual-language learners, and more.

Lead developers and many of their team members used both (a) existing expertise on literacy development and instruction, and (b) a thorough search of the research literature to identify relevant evidence-based practices that support emerging and early literacy.

From developers’ expertise and the comprehensive review of the research, a large set of initial (prototype) PASTEL activities were developed in the four key areas of literacy development: 1) Emergent Literacy, 2) Phonics, 3) Fluency, and 4) Comprehension.

Additionally, activities were developed in a way that would seem reasonable for parents or community volunteers to use; that is, for users who may have limited time, do not necessarily have a professional background in literacy instruction, and desire activities that would be fun and engaging for children.

Each PASTEL activity was tested with numerous parents and community volunteers (i.e., pilot testers) in a range of different settings (e.g., homes and childcare centers). Collectively, these pilot testers also represented a highly diverse group across a range of characteristics, such as age, race, socioeconomic status, marital status, educational background, occupation, etc. From there, additional research studies were conducted to evaluate and understand the impact of PASTEL for children and families.

Children from birth through age 12

PASTEL can be used by any person who is invested in developing the emerging and early literacy skills of children from birth to age 12 and has the opportunity to interact with them. PASTEL users can include:

• Parents and other caregivers (for example, grandparents, babysitters, older siblings).
• Educators working in schools or after-school settings (PASTEL provides simple, research-based activities they can easily suggest to parents and caregivers).
• Volunteers and staff who work in school-based settings such as childcare centers, after-school programs, or pre-schools.

There are many reasons, including that:

• Too many children do not have proficient literacy skills. Those who become proficient with foundational literacy skills (in areas such as phonics, fluency, and others) generally have more positive schooling experiences, are more likely to identify as readers, are more likely to read for enjoyment, and are more likely to be afforded a wider range of life opportunities.
• Research has shown that parent involvement and effective home-school collaboration are two key factors in facilitating a child’s literacy development and overall success in school.
• Although many parents are involved with literacy activities in the home, many are not aware of certain types of activities that can enhance their child’s foundational literacy development.
• In many communities, positive communication between a child’s teacher and parent is nonexistent or too infrequent. PASTEL helps to address this issue with positive communication about reading development.
• There are many literacy activities available on the web, but most of these activities are limited because (a) they are not specifically designed with parents in mind; (b) they are not developed according to research evidence suggesting what works best; and/or (c) they do not provide clear descriptions, materials, or video demonstrations related to selecting or using the activity.
• A child’s literacy development is greatly enhanced by having in-person activities from a caring adult (compared to having too many activities that require a computer or other forms of technology). PASTEL activities do not require technology and can also be helpful for parents who want to minimize a child’s screen time and, instead, connect with the child by using game-like reading activities.

Parents can use PASTEL as an opportunity to initiate or strengthen communication and collaboration between home and school. Just as some examples, parents can:

• Keep track of PASTEL activities completed at home in the easy-to-use PASTEL Activity Tracking Form and shares this information with teachers.
• Talk to teachers about specific PASTEL activities that could be used to best complement what the teacher is doing in the classroom.
• Ask the teacher if your child has any particular literacy skills (such as sounding out words, reading with better fluency or comprehension) that should be focused upon at home with PASTEL activities. Oftentimes, if a student is struggling in a particular area, a combination of focused support at school and home will benefit the student most.
• Work with a teacher or school to build a community around home literacy support. After developing a good relationship around literacy with your child’s teacher, some parents might be empowered to develop ways that will support other children and families in the community. For example, through a parent’s and teacher’s experience with PASTEL, there may be opportunities to involve even more families around the topics of home literacy and positive home-school communication.

All program materials can be found in the PASTEL guidebook, including:

• 65 fun, easy-to-use activities to improve key literacy skills of children aged birth-12
• key information needed to use PASTEL
• several important supplemental materials, such as
  • a phoneme pronunciation guide,
  • optional reading passages to use with PASTEL activities,
  • an activity tracking form that parents and educators can use for enhanced communication about a child's reading development
  • an optional “Star Chart” motivational system.

PASTEL is free to download, print, and self-assemble in 3-ring binders.

Alternatively, for the same cost of printing and assembling the PASTEL materials yourself, our team at Helps Education Fund can ship you a spiral bound PASTEL guidebook. Not only do parents, caregivers, and teachers find this option convenient, but 100% of proceeds from sales of PASTEL materials go toward our organizational mission—including our ability to develop and freely disseminate even more high-quality educational programs.

Click here to access the PASTEL materials

PASTEL is offered for free to ensure that any parent, caregiver, or educator that wants to support an individual’s literacy development and education is able to do so, regardless of their financial circumstances. The advancement of educational equity is at the core of Helps Education Fund’s organizational mission.

No. PASTEL activities are intentionally low-tech for two main reasons:

First, an important part of PASTEL activities is for the child to get close attention and time from a caring adult who wants to support and encourage the child’s literacy development. Sophisticated materials or computer technology are not needed to accomplish this very important element of literacy development, and in some cases it can even hinder the time and attention between caregiver and child.

Second, those who developed PASTEL, and those who disseminate it, are committed to educational equity. In this way, because many parents and children do not have access to the computer technology often required of high-tech education games, the goal was to develop an effective program that could be accessed by as many parents, children, and teachers as possible.

Yes! We offer trainings for anyone who can benefit from PASTEL, such as parents, caregivers, childcare providers, community volunteers who support students’ literacy development, and professional educators working in schools.

For more information about training and dates for our upcoming workshops, please see the Training section on this page.