Lorri Sauve, M.A. Program Coordinator Joanne Davis Assistant Coordinator

1. Strategies, Ideas and Activities for Engaging Parents in Emergent Literacy Development: Ten years of Best Practices Lorri Sauve, M.A. Program Coordinator Joanne Davis Assistant Coordinator Project READ Literacy Network

2. Agenda • Opening Activity • Goals • Key Messages of Get Set Learn • Rope Activity – where learning occurs • Strategies/tips for working with families • Emergent Literacy activities • Website • Summary

3. Rope Activity • The best learning occurs “on the ropes” • In your work with families, you need to get the parents “on the ropes” • What types of families do you see?

4. Goals for Today • Learn about family literacy • Have fun using the GSL intergenerational model • Understand the 3 Key Messages • Feel confident in knowing how to encourage parents in creating a literacy-rich home

5. Three Key Messages for Get Set Learn for Parents • Read with your child daily • Play with your child in ways that are literacy and math rich • Let your child see you using reading, writing, and math skills in every day life

6. What is GSL • Two hour program that occurs 2 times per week for 10 weeks • FACT time • Parent only time/child only time

7. Best Practices from Get Set Learn • Practice emotionally centred learning • Do relationship-building with families • Work from a strength-based approach • Provide a safe and nurturing learning environment • Ensure you have resource-rich give aways (e.g. Food, books, crayons) • Use real-life, simple activities (e.g. Setting the table, sorting laundry) • Provide low cost or no cost activities for home activities

8. How to Build Positive Relationships: Communicate • Engage families in conversation • Actively listen • Ask questions • Build relationships “No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship.” Connors

9. Families Actively Creating Together (FACT) • Purpose: to encourage positive interaction with other family members (build relationships) while doing literacy and math activities • Families are encouraged to explore toys, books, and puzzles and engage with each other • Is intergenerational

10. Play-based Learning What is it? Learning concepts and skills through play. Why do it? “When a person is fully engaged and concentrating on a play activity, the greatest, easiest, and most learning takes place.” Gopnik, 2009 Don’t assume that parents know this

11. Basis for Family Literacy Programs “If a parent cannot read, there will be no success in asking the parent to read to the child.” • Ruby Payne, A Framework for Understanding Poverty, 2005 • Mother’s literacy level is an indicator of child’s future success

12. Emotionally-Centred Learning “Emotionally-centred learning recognizes the importance of emotional engagement as the basis for learning. This engagement underlies language and skills development and supports the transfer of learning from the classroom to the real world.” Anne Ramsay, 2010

13. Emergent Literacy Activities – Role Play • 4 A’s include: • Ask • Affirm • Add • Again • Do “role play” activity

14. Emergent Literacy Activities – Clear Language • Use of technology e.g. tumblebooks • Resources in community • Activity – choose to create a “calendar”, “status update on child” or “information letter” • In small groups, describe how you would make it easier for low literate and SLL families to understand

15. Emergent Literacy Activities Math in a grocery bag www.youtube.com/watch?v=khkxeDsTAlw