Historically, the emphasis of parent involvement components in early childhood programs has been on teaching the parent to teach the child. Since the early 1980s, however, there has been a movement toward the development of support systems for families. Support activities are important for parents under stress, since stress can affect the ability of a parent to function, and can ultimately affect the development of the child. This study describes the Landerholm/Karr model, a parent involvement program at a university day care center that is designed to increase parent involvement. The purpose of the study was to involve as many parents as possible and to compare which activities were most successful in fulfilling that goal. A total of 71 parents participated in support activities for parents and for parents and children, educational activities, and leadership activities. Results indicated that activities that centered on food, and particularly those that included the provision of dinner, helped parents get involved in educational activities. For a variety of reasons, inclusion of food in activities was seen as a strong method of supporting parents. Parents infrequently involved in activities concentrated on only one or two activities, while frequently involved parents participated in a variety of activities. The provision of educational activities, especially computer sessions, at convenient times and for a short duration helped increase the number of parents who got involved. In general, results of the study indicated that support activities helped parents to feel comfortable and motivated them to try other educational programs. Contains 36 references. (SM)