Parenting for Literacy adapts Messages of the Built Environment for parents and children together programs.  The program offers four units, each providing  ninety minutes segments:30 minutes for parents only, and 60 minutes of guided parents-child activities for parents to try out their new skills.
The first unit introduces the basics of visual literacy.  In the subsequent units families explore rooms, buildings, and neighborhoods looking for lines, shapes, colors,  exploring spatial concepts and shades of color, and reinterpreting what they learn through arts and crafts, song, movement, and poems.

Field trips explore the immediate neighborhood and local cultural resources like museums, landmarks, and/or parks to integrate what children learn in class to the larger environment.  Each unit concludes with a family field trip and/or family celebration.