Empowering Families

Practical Ways to Involve Parents in Boosting Literacy, Grades Pre-K–5

Judy Bradbury, Susan E. Busch

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781138803091
• eBook ISBN: 9781317622536
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

The home–school connection is important to student literacy achievement. However, it can be time-consuming to develop and implement programming that keeps families engaged and involved. Empowering Families makes it easier to accomplish these goals! Chock-full of step-by-step plans for arranging a variety of parent/caregiver meetings and literacy booster events, the book enables educators to get families involved in their children's learning in ways that are fun and non-intimidating.

By hosting these events at your school, you'll be empowering families to…

• read aloud to their children at home;
• minimize the summer slide;
• encourage male involvement in literacy;
• help their children avoid homework hassles;
• and much, much more!

Bonus: The book includes ready-to-use handouts for your events, such as announcement sheets, follow-up evaluations, and tipsheets that describe ways parents can reinforce literacy at home. These handouts are photocopiable and the tipsheets are also available for easy download from our website at www.routledge.com/9781138803114. Spanish versions of the tipsheets are available on our website as well.

Part I
Introduction

Chapter 1
Empowering Families

Getting Started

Improving literacy by strengthening the home–school connection is a powerful initiative with far-reaching effects. Offering a variety of opportunities for parents/caregivers to interact with the professionals who educate their children—with the goal of boosting literacy while building relationships—is a worthwhile endeavor. Yet with ever-expanding responsibilities, it is often difficult for educators to allocate time to adequately plan, organize, and host events beyond the school day. Whether one is scheduling a series of meetings or a single event for parents, caregivers, and families, attention to myriad details is time-consuming and the prospect can be daunting.

This book will help. Three components aim to enable educators to successfully encourage and support parental/caregiver involvement in bolstering literacy and impacting school success: detailed step-by-step suggestions for implementing a range of parent/caregiver Literacy Booster Meetings and Family Literacy Events; copy-ready Parent/Caregiver Resource Packets for event attendees; and a set of engaging, copy-ready single-page “Sharing Our Secrets” Take-Home TipSheets intended for parents/caregivers and ideal for stuffing in backpacks. In addition, bonus eResources, which include a set of PowerPoint presentations, additional resources for events, and materials in Spanish, are available online. Together these components offer a cohesive, detailed means for empowering families to team with educators to bolster literacy.

Literacy Booster Meetings—Sessions for parents/caregivers aim to impact literacy and strengthen the home–school connection. The focus is nurturing and invigorating commitment to boosting literacy in the home and cultivating communication between home and school. Meetings offer participants a supportive environment in which to develop and expand knowledge, abilities, and interest in impacting literacy. Simple, effective strategies are shared. Periodic meetings support ongoing involvement while deepening educators’ understanding of the roles and responsibilities—as well as the challenges—of the adults directly involved in their students’ lives.

Family Literacy Events—Parents, caregivers, and children are welcomed to vibrant programs that take place outside of the academic day. Literacy events for families that offer engaging, entertaining opportunities for learning build positive home–school connections.

“Sharing Our Secrets” Take-Home TipSheets—Sending home brief, eye-catching literacy tips on a regular basis reinforces and extends strategies discussed at Literacy Booster Meetings or experienced at Family Literacy Events. The Take-Home TipSheets also offer suggestions for books, websites, and creative ways to boost literacy. Upbeat, accessible, and engaging Take-Home TipSheets keep parents and caregivers thinking about literacy. The TipSheets are available in color and in Spanish in eResources online.

How do the components of this book satisfy educational standards and goals? The Common Core State Standards (CCSS), as well as other educational initiatives, guidelines, and regulations inform and drive education in today’s schools. The need for vigorous support from the home to boost literacy has never been greater. Working together, home and school improve students’ success in reaching challenging academic goals.

The National PTA has established standards for family-school partnerships. These include welcoming families into the school environment, developing effective communication, and collaborating as equal partners in supporting student learning (see www.pta.org/programs/content.cfm?ItemNumber=3126). The CCSS state:

The skills and understandings students are expected to demonstrate have wide applicability outside the classroom… . In short, students who meet the standards develop the skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening that are the foundation for any creative and purposeful expression in language. (CCSS Introduction, page 3)

Why strive to strengthen home–school connections? Educators as well as parents/caregivers have much to gain from home–school partnerships. School faculty and staff gain insight into the joys, challenges, needs, and dreams of the parents and caregivers of the students with whom they work. Literacy Booster Meetings, Family Literacy Events, and helpful written communications bridge home and school. Educators become more accessible, and the school environment seems less formidable to parents/caregivers. Adults in children’s lives benefit from a variety of opportunities to get to know and appreciate one another and to form alliances that impact student success. Supportive faculty and staff demonstrate how essential parents/caregivers are to their children’s achievement of school-related goals. Together, the adults in children’s lives become collaborative literacy partners. With a shared mission, they are powerful advocates with viable and achievable goals.

What are parent/caregiver literacy booster meetings? Developing and nurturing solid parenting skills may well be a by-product of the Literacy Booster Meetings, but this is not the intended purpose; rather, the goal is boosting literacy skills for the benefit of children while strengthening the home–school dynamic.

Encouraging open discussion is a hallmark of the programs developed for this resource. It is vital that educators and parents/caregivers speak honestly and feel comfortable doing so. Much can be learned from one another. Barriers and negative feelings that may have originated when parents/caregivers were students themselves must be overcome. Encouraging the use of first names, for example, allows parents/caregivers to feel more relaxed and on equal footing with their children’s teachers and school staff. In all instances, parents/caregivers should feel respected, supported, and lauded for their commitment to fostering literacy in the home.

The optimal size for Literacy Booster Meetings is approximately 20 participants, with 1–2 leaders. Encourage school support staff, such as social workers, school psychologists, media specialists, and counselors to attend. It’s ideal if the principal participates as well.

The length of individual programs is generally 1–2 hours. Each features a variety of activities and includes a 10–15-minute break. A read-aloud is an essential component of Literacy Booster Meetings, as is ample time for discussion. Specific suggestions for what parents/caregivers can do at home to boost literacy are central to each session. The opportunity for parents/caregivers to share their experiences, their triumphs, and their frustrations is also an integral feature of a dynamic Literacy Booster Meeting.

When conducting Literacy Booster Meetings, the emphasis is on demonstrating strategies rather than talking about them. Participants are offered opportunities to try techniques that are introduced. This enables parents/caregivers to experience and prepare for their implementation. Literacy Booster Meetings ought to reflect the learning that takes place in the classroom. Parents/caregivers then have a real sense of what and how their children are learning in the academic setting; this insight supports learning in the home.

Literacy Booster Meetings can be scheduled to take place immediately following the school day or in the early evening. Meetings also can take place during the school day if such scheduling is feasible. It is advisable to keep the time and day consistent for the duration of a series of related sessions. However, varying the time and day for stand-alone meetings over the course of the school year will meet the needs of parents/caregivers with a variety of schedules. Some parents/caregivers may not be able to attend on Wednesday evenings, for example, but are available on Monday afternoons. Creatively schedule to engage parents/caregivers and generate enthusiasm. Consider a lunch meeting, an ice cream social, or attaching a book raffle to the event.

Survey parents/caregivers for preferred meeting times and provide childcare if it is deemed necessary to the success of the program. Childcare ought to include fun activities and creative play reflecting the philosophy of the parent/caregiver programs. If feasible, offer to provide transportation, whether by public means, car pools, or school bus, to enhance attendance.

Choose welcoming, bright rooms for meetings. The school library or an adequately sized conference room works well. Consider varying the location to allow parents/caregivers to become familiar with various settings within the school. Arrange tables to enhance sharing ideas. Round tables encourage discussion; chairs in rows can inhibit interaction.

Multilingual sessions are encouraged when they reflect the diversity of the school community. This reflects respect for the cultures represented in the school community and the aim to develop and support inclusive home–school connections. Select Literacy Booster Meeting materials are available in Spanish in eResources online.

Follow-up sessions reinforce strategies, allow parents/caregivers to discuss setbacks and successes, and build relationships. Meeting summaries serve as reminders. Related TipSheets offer reinforcement and additional ideas. Feedback from evaluations of events is priceless when developing future programs. Communication is crucial to effective programming.

Strengthening the connection between home and school through ongoing programming requires commitment from the entire school community: administration, faculty, staff, parents/caregivers, and students. With personal investment comes a sense of responsibility—and ultimately—empowerment. Enthusiastic parent/caregiver involvement lies at the heart of successful programming.

When initially scheduling Literacy Booster Meetings, it is preferable to personally invite parents/caregivers. A fall Open House or parent-teacher conferences offer ideal opportunities for extending a personal invitation to parents and caregivers. As meetings become familiar and expected events, invitations can simply be sent home.

How Are Literacy Booster Meetings Structured?

Introduction (5–20 minutes)—A warm greeting, a preview of the session’s focus (sometimes as a mini-activity), an explanation of session goals, and a read-aloud of a related children’s book are features common to all Literacy Booster Meetings. At each event participants must be made to feel comfortable working together with a shared purpose. Stating names and children’s names and grade levels is an effective way to warm up the group. Consider asking participants to briefly interview and introduce each other to the group. Ask participants to briefly share news about their children or recall a tip from a previous session that worked well—or didn’t. Encourage participation by posing a general question relating to the topic of the meeting. (Examples: What is one thing your child was excited to learn in school this week? What are you an expert at, or would like to learn more about? In your opinion, what makes learning easy or difficult? Recall a favorite school story either from your past or from your child’s experiences. What is one thing about our school or your child’s classroom that is making a difference in your child’s life?)

The read-aloud, a staple of the Literacy Booster Meeting, underscores the importance of reading and demonstrates the joy of being read to. Not only does the read-aloud help focus the session’s events, it also models effective read-aloud techniques. Read-alouds rekindle or jumpstart interest in children’s literature and underscore the vitality and pleasures of a literacy-rich home. It’s essential that all participants can see and hear the book as you read aloud. For small groups, it is suitable to stand before the group and perhaps circulate so everyone can enjoy the illustrations as you read the text. For larger groups, consider using a document reader, opaque projector, or other means of making the book pages easily visible to all. Consider purchasing a big book edition, if available. It is crucial that the read-aloud experience be engaging and that the leader models effective read-aloud techniques.

Part I (15–30 minutes)—The goal of each Literacy Booster Meeting is learning and doing. Everyone is encouraged to participate. Group dynamics and problem-solving build a sense of community as well as a sense of self-worth, confidence, and empowerment.

Break (10–15 minutes)—Offering simple, healthy snacks is optional but encouraged. During breaks, leaders and participants have an opportunity to browse books and socialize.

Part II (20–40 minutes)—Parents/caregivers respond to open-ended questions and discuss Part I, exploring ways to apply strategies at home. Small and large group discussions take place. A unifying thread connecting sessions is the home activity. Often, recapping the home activity experience is an excellent way to begin the following session in a series of related meetings.

Wrap-Up (5–15 minutes)—The purpose of the Literacy Booster Meeting is reviewed and what was accomplished is summarized; if the meeting is part of a series, the leader recaps what participants will try out and report on at the next session. A brief overview of the upcoming session is offered. Participants fill out evaluations; leaders thank participants for coming. Session ends promptly, but leaders remain available for brief questions.

Chapter 2
Tips for Conducting Successful Literacy Booster Meetings and Family Literacy Events

Positive connections educators make with parents and caregivers strengthen school support at home. Parent/caregiver involvement is vital to the academic success of students, and educators must enlist active, enthusiastic, and ongoing commitment from the home. Most adults want to help their children succeed academically, but sometimes they aren’t familiar with or don’t possess a clear understanding of effective methods and tools for boosting literacy.Literacy Booster Meetings offer an opportunity for everyone to learn, share, discuss, and become more confident with strategies that bolster literacy. A welcoming atmosphere cultivates powerful partnerships between home and school. Relevant programs fill in the gaps and prompt parents/caregivers to view their role in their child’s academic endeavors as critical to success. The following approaches aid in the organization and execution of engaging parent/caregiver programs.

Flexibility—Modify as necessary the resources, suggestions, and schedules contained in this book to best meet the needs of the parents/caregivers and students in your setting. Sessions can be lengthened or shortened. To tighten an existing session, review the Talking Points and select those most beneficial to your audience. To extend a session, allow additional time for discussion or add Talking Points reflecting relevant concerns in your school community.

Scheduling—Survey parents/caregivers or confer with the parent organization at your school to gauge optimum times for holding Literacy Booster Meetings. Scheduling sessions a week or two following parent conferences may yield a better turnout. Teachers can personally invite parents/caregivers to attend and have registration information available to distribute. Parents/caregivers who develop positive relationships with educators often are willing to follow suggestions to help their children succeed in school.

Childcare—Parents/caregivers may not attend school meetings because they are unable to arrange childcare. Since Literacy Booster Meetings are intended for adults only, consider providing childcare. Resources for volunteers include scouting programs, high school childcareclasses, college childcare or teacher preparation programs, and Youth Engaged in Service (YES). Arrange for a responsible adult to supervis...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Meet the Authors
• Acknowledgments
• Part I: Introduction
• Part II: Staff Development Sessions
• Part III: Parent/Caregiver Literacy Booster Meeting: Three-Part Series
• Part IV: Additional Parent/Caregiver Literacy Booster Meetings and Family Literacy Events
• Part V: Year-End Parent/Caregiver Literacy Booster Meeting
• Part VI: Additional Teacher Resources
• Appendix