DADS AND KIDS BOOK CLUBS

Dads and Kids Book Clubs, designed for fathers and their children, strengthen father-child relationships through shared literacy activities; provide fun early literacy activities for dads and kids; and provide fathers with new ideas for supporting early literacy development.

Dads and Kids Book Clubs involve a series of four to six weekly sessions. Each session focuses on a specific children's picture book and includes the reading and discussion of each story, father-child activities related to the story and its themes, and a separate discussion time for dads. Each father/male caregiver receives a copy of the featured book along with printed tips on how to read/share the story with his children.

Extra efforts are made in recruiting fathers and to make the father-child activities more dad-centric.

The Humanities Center is currently recruiting host organizations to implement Dads and Kids Book Clubs in their communities and has developed the following list of responsibilities.

The Minnesota Humanities Center will provide:

• Info rmation manual on implementing Dads and Kids Book Clubs;
• One copy per family of each children's book selected in a series of Dads and Kids Book Clubs (typically four to six weekly sessions per series);
• Sample lesson plans with handouts for five to 10 books as models and templates for new books (included in the "manual");
• Format and materials for Parent and Program Evaluation;
• Consultation from Humanities Center staff on program design and implementation; and
• Reading with Dad Booklist and other informational materials related to dads and literacy.

The Host Organization will commit to:

• Recruitment of fathers and children for the book club;
• Providing a location and space for the book club meetings;
• Providing materials for projects, snacks, etc.;
• Providing staff facilitators: typically a children's teacher and a parent educator/teacher to lead the Dads and Kids Book Club;
• Sending completed information of attendance and parent evaluations; and
• Completing program implementation for the Humanities Center including outlines of sessions, tip sheets, and overall assessment of program success.

For more information on Dads and Kids Book Clubs and/or to apply to become a host organization, please contact Tom Fitzpatrick, Director of Community Partnerships, at 651-772-4255 or tom@minnesotahumanities.org.