Reinforcement of Parental Practices
Supporting early childhood care through stronger parenting skills
Launched in 2013 after a successful pilot, the Reinforcement of Parental Practices (RPP) builds on Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP) to strengthen early childhood development. The module supports parents and community members to create nurturing environments where children can grow, learn, and thrive.
Communities have implemented the RPP module
Religious leaders trained to share early childhood messages in community dialogue
Children’s books distributed to parents and caregivers
What's at Stake
Research shows that the first three years of life are critical for brain development. In many rural communities, parents who have not attended school often believe they cannot support their child’s learning. Some traditional practices, though well intended, may limit the stimulation young children need for language and cognitive growth. Tostan’s RPP helps parents see that their daily interactions with children shape their future. It connects early childhood care with human rights, dignity, and collective wellbeing.
What We're Doing
In the Reinforcement of Parental Practices (RPP) Module, facilitators share simple techniques that enrich interactions between parents and their young children and which are all linked to children’s basic human rights to education and health. These techniques include speaking to children using a rich and complex vocabulary, asking them questions and helping them respond, playfully copying their behavior, telling them stories, and describing objects in detail to them. This module was piloted in 32 Wolof, Pulaar and Mandinka communities in 2012 and then extended to 310 communities from 2013-2016 and to 120 new communities with funding from UNICEF in 2017 (a total of 462 communities).
As part of a new collaboration with our partner Vroom, Tostan is currently implementing a new round of the RPP program in 30 communities in the District of Medina Yoro Foulah (Senegal) and is, at the same time, selecting and adapting processes to share with class participants and community members to provide more practical ways for parents to put their new knowledge into action. Tostan is also using its extensive experience in supporting positive social norms change to enable communities to transform current practices that are accepted as unwritten social norms that can limit ECD practices, a process that goes beyond individual behaviour change and requires focus on collective change.
Impact and sustainability
Parents now communicate more effectively with their children and feel confident in their role as first educators. Communities report less corporal punishment, stronger school readiness, and improved social, linguistic, and emotional development among children. These foundations support lifelong learning and wellbeing.
Learn how the Reinforcement of Parental Practices (RPP) module has transformed early childhood care in rural communities through collective action and lasting social change.