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What are Mother Goose Programs™?
Mother Goose Programs™ are a collection of picture books, kits, activity guides, and training that
enable parents, librarians, child-care providers, and early childhood and early elementary educators to
transform the act of reading to children into a multidimensional and powerful learning experience. Our
mission is to enhance the development, self-esteem, and success of children by building the skills and
confidence of parents, librarians, child-care providers, and other educators.
Who produces these programs?
Mother Goose Programs™ are created by Vermont Center for the Book, the largest and most active
state affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. VCB was founded in 1985 as
a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It has five full-time staff and a national corps of educational consultants
and trainers. Since 1992, VCB has received over $14 million in federal, state, and private foundation
grants, most notably from the National Science Foundation, to develop its Mother Goose Programs™
materials.
Who uses Mother Goose Programs™?
Between 2000 and 2005 alone, Mother Goose Programs™ reached over 40,000 families; trained over
6,000 early childhood educators, including librarians and elementary teachers; and distributed 400,000+
books in 30 states plus the Virgin Islands and Washington, DC. MGP is widely used in homes, child care
organizations, elementary schools, every Head Start in the state of California, and library systems
including the Houston Public Library and the State Library Associations of Pennsylvania, Washington,
Delaware, and Vermont.
Do Mother Goose Programs™ meet state standards?
According to the National Childcare Information and Technical Assistance Center (NCCIC), all states have
Early Learning Guidelines. VCB has examined most states' education standards and although there are
some differences in semantics, the standards in all the MGP program guides/manuals reflect the general
content and align with the states' standards and the Head Start Framework.
Have Mother Goose Programs™ been validated by research?
Mother Goose Programs™ have been field-tested and endorsed by research. RMC Research Corp. found
that most early childhood educators who implemented these programs had "a much greater positive impact
on children's early literacy than caretakers of children...who did not participate in the training."
Evaluation documenting the positive impact of Mother Goose Programs™ has also been conducted by Learning Innovations at WestEd.
Are Mother Goose Programs™ the same as Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR)?
MGP complements ECRR. For example, VCB is working in Vermont with the Department of Libraries on a joint
statewide early literacy initiative (ELI). Thirty public librarians are attending a two-day training workshop.
On the first day ECRR trainer Saroj Ghoting will conduct the workshop and VCB will be using MGP materials to
conduct the workshop on the second day. A follow-up workshop in November will focus on how librarians can
work with childcare providers in their communities.
The Executive Director of VCB, Sally Anderson, is a librarian by trade. As a member of ALA, ALSC and as an ALSC
committee member, Sally is well-versed in the ECRR program and its concepts.
MGP's emphasis on math and science as well as literacy–along with MGP guides, manuals and hands-on
materials–supplement and expand the ECRR model. Librarians familiar with ECRR will be particularly impressed with MGP.
How do Mother Goose Programs™ tie into guidelines from the National Association for the Education of Young Children?
The philosophy of and content contained in the Mother Goose Programs for professionals working with children ages
birth to 7 are aligned with those of NAEYC. Books, articles and on-line materials written and published by NAEYC
have been used during the creation and dissemination of the MGP curricula.
The courses and workshops based on these Mother Goose Programs are used for recertification credit in several states.
The emphasis on teacher commitment to children and their learning, teachers knowing the subjects they teach and
how to teach those subjects to children, teachers learning to think systematically about their practice and
learning from experience and as members of a learning community are all essential elements of MGP trainings and
curricula.
Do you offer training on how to best incorporate Mother Goose Programs™ into my library/child care center/home school programs?
Yes! We offer in-service and workshop sessions for classroom teachers, librarians, and early childhood
educators/child-care providers. Whether train-the-trainer or direct-to educator, our sessions are
always hands-on, book-based and–most important–standards-based. We customize our programs
to fit your institution's needs. In addition to building their skills and knowledge, many librarians
tell us that our training is the most fun training they've ever had!
After conducting programming for children and families in their libraries, here are some librarians' observations:
"The program has really fostered and increased an excitement of science and mathematics in the parents of
young children. It's been inspiring."
"We showed them how they can work with what they already have in existence and how [this programming is]
an asset to their current programming. We just followed the manual. We stayed with what we know works."
We offer hands-on sessions and keynote addresses at state, regional and national conferences. Librarians who have
worked with us have presented programs at their own state conferences as well.
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