Play and Learning Strategies (PALS) Infant

Play and Learning Strategies (PALS) is designed to strengthen parent–child bonding and stimulate children’s early language, cognitive, and social development. There are two versions of the model: PALS Infant curriculum for families with children 5 to 18 months, which consists of 10 weekly sessions; and PALS Toddler/Preschooler curriculum for children 18 months through 4 years, which consists of 12 weekly sessions. Both versions are offered through 90-minute home visits conducted by a parent educator. This report also includes a review of PALS Infant + Toddler/Preschooler which refers to the combined Infant + Toddler/Preschooler curricula. Parent educators are required to receive training and certification from the model developer, the Children’s Learning Institute at the University of Texas Health Science Center. The Children’s Learning Institute recommends that PALS be implemented by agencies with sustained funding mechanisms and organizational structures that can support model continuity, such as Head Start, Early Head Start, and not-for-profit early childhood agencies.

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Play and Learning Strategies (PALS) is a preventive intervention that aims to enhance parents’ interactions with their infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. It is designed to strengthen the attachment between parent and child and stimulate early language, cognitive, and social development.

The University of Texas Health Science Center’s Children’s Learning Institute (Children’s Learning Institute) supports implementation of PALS. No state support systems exist.

Ongoing consultation is available from the Children’s Learning Institute.

PALS targets at-risk families who are unlikely to have received effective parenting instruction. Local agencies may develop their own target criteria based on their service area context.

Two versions of the model exist: PALS Infant curriculum and PALS Toddler/Preschooler curriculum. PALS Infant curriculum focuses on children ages 5 to 18 months and their families. PALS Toddler/Preschooler curriculum focuses on children ages 18 months through 4 years and their families.

The goal of PALS is to strengthen the attachment between parent and child and to stimulate early language, cognitive, and social development.

PALS includes one-on-one home visits between a trained parent coach and a parent.

Parent coaches use the PALS Infant curriculum or the PALS Toddler/Preschooler curriculum. Each curriculum consists of a scripted manual, set of exemplar videos, and age-appropriate toy bag.

PALS Infant curriculum consists of 10 weekly sessions. PALS Toddler/Preschooler curriculum consists of 12 weekly sessions. Sessions last about 90 minutes.

PALS has been adapted for online delivery in two versions: PALS Spotlights and ePALS. PALS Spotlights is an online, self-instructional version of PALS. It consists of condensed sessions that highlight key concepts from PALS. ePALS is being used in an ongoing study and is not currently available.

The Children’s Learning Institute recommends that PALS be implemented by agencies with a sustained funding mechanism and an organizational structure that can support model continuity (such as Head Start, Early Head Start, and not-for-profit early childhood agencies).

No information is available about the fidelity standards that implementing programs or parent coaches are required to meet.

Certified parent coaches implement PALS under the guidance of a supervisor. No information is available about other staff required to implement PALS.

PALS recommends, but does not require, that parent coaches have at minimum an associate’s degree in early childhood (or a related field) or a high school diploma and two years of work experience in an early childhood setting. For parent coach supervisors, PALS requires at least a bachelor's degree in early childhood education or a related field and three to five years of work experience, preferably in parent or family education.

Group supervision is recommended weekly to discuss PALS content and family change processes. In addition, individual supervision must be conducted monthly through observation of a home visit.

Staff at the Children’s Learning Institute provide required PALS training either at the Children's Learning Institute in Houston, Texas, or on-site at local implementing agencies. Training on either the PALS Infant or PALS Toddler/Preschooler curriculum is 2.5 days; combined training on both the PALS Infant and Toddler/Preschooler curricula lasts 5 days. Please contact the model developer for additional information about the pre-service training requirement.

The recommended weekly group supervision sessions serve as a forum for ongoing training of PALS content and coaching strategies. Ongoing training for supervisors is available from the Children's Learning Institute upon request. Please contact the model developer for additional information about the ongoing professional development requirements.

Keith Millner, M.A., Ed.M.
Director, CLI Solutions Group
Children’s Learning Institute
The University of Texas
Health Science Center

Phone: (713) 500-3800
Email: Keith.Millner@uth.tmc.edu
Websites: https://playandlearning.org/