Margaret Wise Brown’s classic bedtime story, Goodnight Moon, is among the many books provided by ParentChild+, a national organization with local affiliates that works with families to support children’s early learning.

But not every ParentChild+ family says, “Goodnight, moon,” in the same language.

If you’re enrolled in ParentChild+ at the Seattle-based, non-profit El Centro de la Raza, you say, “Buenas Noches, Luna.”

That’s because El Centro De la Raza, which serves as a voice and a hub for King County’s Latino community, ensures that its early learning programs and resources mirror those of its Spanish-speaking community. El Centro De la Raza provides ParentChild+ as part of the Early Learning Home Visiting component, and it ensures that the program is implemented in a way that best serves its purpose—to ensure that each child is ready for formal schooling regardless of race, socio-economic status, or zip code.

ParentChild+ offers an in-home, one-on-one learning model where toddlers and parents are matched with trained coaches, known as home visitors, who speak the same language and have the same cultural background. Home visitors meet with families twice weekly for 30 minutes per visit. The program is designed for children 16 months to four years old; the program provides books, activities, and toys, including those that align with their cultural backgrounds. ParentChild+ says home visitors also model positive interaction and teach parents how to work with and advocate for their children.

And they offer materials that align with families’ culture and backgrounds. In addition to offering Goodnight Moon in Spanish for Latino families, ParentChild+ provides African American families with the children’s book, “Please, Baby, Please,” by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee.

ParentChild+ is offered locally by many nonprofit organizations, including some that are funded by and partner with United Way. These include El Centro De la Raza, a United Way-supported, Seattle-based organization that serves as a voice and a hub for King County’s Latino community. El Centro De la Raza also supports ParentChild+ participants and connects them with community resources.

Elisa Jimenez, ParentChild+ supervisor at El Centro De la Raza, said the program provides books children will likely see in kindergarten.

“We make sure they don’t say, ‘What is this book? I’ve never seen this book.’ They have, and they enjoyed it with their families,” who spoke about ParentChild+ and El Centro De la Raza on a recent episode of United Way of King County’s podcast, Hourglass. To listen to the podcast, click here.

 “We also try to incorporate more books that are culturally relevant to them, so they can still recognize their culture and be proud of where they come from,” Jimenez added. “Sometimes, when you migrate to this country, you leave that behind. We make sure they know their identity, race, and culture, and are proud of that. You walk into El Centro De la Raza, filled with color, culture, and community pride. Families who participate in ParentChild+ feel deeply connected because of the program. It’s bilingual, bicultural, and community-based.”

Jimenez said that, like many ParentChild+ staff nationwide, she was once a parent in the program..

“I was looking for something to help my child’s early development and build confidence as a mother,” Jimenez said. “The support that I received from ParentChild+ truly changed my life. It helped me see that I was already my child’s first and most important teacher. The experience inspired me to become an early learning specialist, working directly with the families in the community, many of them share my background, language, and hopes for their children.”

 At United Way of King County, we know that the years before kindergarten lay the groundwork for learning in school. Yet nearly two out of three low-income kids in King County are behind their peers when they start kindergarten. To ensure kids from low-income families enter kindergarten fully prepped for classroom learning, we support early learning through our ParentChild+ program in collaboration with 13 King County community partners.

In 2019, seven ParentChild+ partner providers formed the Emerging Alliance of Communities of Color (EACC), a group of providers that serve primarily Black, immigrant, refugee, and Muslim families.

“We are fortunate at United Way to have a very long-term, strong partnership in growing and developing the local ParentChild+ network,” said United Way Community Impact Manager Whitney Nakamura. “It’s a national model, but locally we have a number of community-based organizations, all over King County, that are implementing the program. “What’s so great about this is that they are able to take this model and really personalize it to the needs of their families and their communities.”

For more information about El Centro De la Raza’s ParentChild+ work, click here. For more information about United Way of King County’s ParentChild+ work, click here.