Family Literacy for Future Parents

With a new grant, University of Delaware Myae Han will develop and pilot a family literacy curriculum in Delaware high schools

For more than 20 years, University of Delaware Professor Myae Han has worked with early childhood education students and teachers, focusing on how they can support children’s language and literacy development. She has seen the impact teachers can make when they create language- and literacy-rich environments for children, but has often wondered about bringing this knowledge to parents and communities.

“What if we could provide this same knowledge and these practical skills to future parents or, even better, to the broader public?” said Han, who teaches within the College of Education and Human Development’s (CEHD) Department of Human Development and Family Sciences (HDFS). “Parents are children’s first and most important partners in communication and learning, and effective parenting skills should be introduced through general education systems, such as high schools.”

With a new grant from Strengthening Future Families, Han will now develop and pilot a family literacy curriculum in Delaware high schools, specifically designed to reach students before they become parents. Annette Pic, a researcher in CEHD’s Delaware Institute for Excellence in Early Childhood and an HDFS alum, will serve as co-principal investigator. The team will also partner with Deandra Taylor, academic program manager in CEHD’s Center for Excellence and Equity in Teacher Preparation and director of its Teachers of Tomorrow program, to connect with Delaware high schools.

The project challenges the assumption that people only need parenting education once they become parents or caregivers of young children. Titled “Parenting Through Language and Literacy Support” (PALLS), the curriculum will offer a special focus on literacy and language development. But it will also help young people develop a broad set of relationship-based skills.

“PALLS is about more than preparing people to support their future children’s literacy development,” Han said. “The knowledge and skills that support effective parenting—communicating effectively, understanding others’ needs and being responsive, showing empathy and building positive relationships—are embedded throughout the PALLS curriculum. These are important life skills for everyone, regardless of whether they eventually become parents, and should be embedded in the general curriculum.”

PALLS teaches practical, evidence-based strategies for future parents or others who plan to work with children in their career, drawing from research on child development. The curriculum will include five modules covering oral language development, effective book reading strategies, social-emotional development through shared reading, foundational literacy skills like alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness and supporting language and literacy through play.

“Everyday activities such as conversation, storytelling, shared reading and play provide powerful opportunities to support children’s language, literacy, cognitive and social-emotional development,” Han said.

The team began curriculum development and assessment in June 2026, when the grant was awarded. Over the 2026-2027 school year, the team will pilot the materials with interested Delaware high schools and use their feedback to refine the curriculum before broader implementation. The project will continue through June 2027.

To learn more about CEHD research in early childhood, literary and language, family policy and services and teacher preparation, visit its research webpages.

Article by Jessica Henderson. Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson and courtesy of Myae Han.