Mother Goose on the Loose strives to strengthen parents as the primary nurturers of their children by:

• Increasing parent knowledge of child development
• Pointing out advances in children’s developmental progress
• Helping parents to enhance their self-concept by alerting them to the fact that a parent is the child’s first and best teacher
• Giving parents self-confidence regarding their parenting
• Reducing the amount of parenting stress
• Helping parents improve their own literacy skills
• Alerting parents to resources available at the library for their children
• Strengthening the relationship between children and their parents/caregivers

During program sessions, parent-child relationships are supported and enhanced when leaders

• Encourage play between parents and children
• Mention the importance of play
• Encourage parents to demonstrate responsiveness in interactions with their children
• Model sensitivity towards children’s feelings
• Provide a place where parents can spend time with their children in activities that stimulate their children’s development
• Show parents fun and easy ways to use books with their children
• Teach songs and rhymes which parents can sing and recite to their children
• Use a large vocabulary of words for positive reinforcement.