In September 1995, the Scranton Area Family Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania, initiated a twice-weekly literacy class designed to build low-income parents' educational skills and personal confidence while simultaneously encouraging family literacy activities. Eight parents of children in the Scranton School District attended the class and received an average of 36.4 hours of instruction in reading, writing, mathematics, and family literacy activities. All students were pretested with the Tests of Adult Basic Education. Those students who attended class regularly learned to read a selection of children's books and to engage their children in activities designed to accompany the books. The class was assessed periodically and revised accordingly. Despite the course's poor attendance rate, which was attributed to the severe winter and transportation problems typically encountered by low-income individuals, the class was deemed a success. The parents made progress toward achieving their goal of improving their basic skills, and the children loved spending time at the family center. (Also included are the following: information on student demographics; the reading, writing, math, and family curricula; list of nine children's books; and recruitment flyer. An appendix contains 22 family literacy activities.) (MN)