Engaging Parent & Family Events

1. Engaging Parent & Family Events Liz Walker, Early Childhood Consultant, WMISD Shannon Cross, Family Coach, Early Reading First Sheila Bosman, Early Childhood Teacher, CAPS

2. Children who do best in school have strong and positive interconnections between family, school and community. A direct link to positive child outcomes is strengthening learning at home and parent involvement in the learning process. -GSRP Implementation Manual 2008

3. Why? Birth to 5 is when “….parents’ beliefs about their children’s abilities are shaped and when children’ own academic self-concepts begin to form.…” Harte, S. (1999) “The Construction of Self: A Developmental Perspective.” retrieved April 10, 2010- from hfrp.org/publications-resource.

4. Why? The family seems to be the most effective and economical system for fostering and sustaining the child’s development. Without family involvement, intervention is likely to be unsuccessful, and what few effects are achieved are likely to disappear once the intervention is discontinued. —Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917–2005) His pioneering research influenced the work of Harvard Family Research Project.

5. Why? • Kindergarten Readiness When parents share picture books with their children daily, do these same children enter kindergarten more prepared for reading? According to a decade of national research, the answer is a resounding "yes.“- Raising a Reader www.raisingareader.org/research • Dialogic Reading – Following the PEER sequence: • Prompt the child to say something about the book • Evaluate the child’s response • Expand on the child’s response by rephrasing what they say & adding informtion • Repeat the prompt to make sure the child has learned what was given during the expansion • readingrockets.org (article 400)

6. Why? • Joyce Epstein of Johns Hopkins University has developed framework for 6 different kinds of parent involvement. Parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, & collaborating with the community. All of these types of parent involvement can be positively influenced by parent/child events. Epstein, J.L. 1992 “School & Family Relationships.”

7. What children learn… • Playgroups and other socialization events give children opportunities to practice rule following and listening in groups. • Other socialization skills children gain from playgroups: • Observing personal space • Using manners • Taking Turns • Sharing • Standing up for their own rights • Working with others

8. What Parents learn… • Observe children the same age • Meet other parents to network with • Parents learn new activities to do with their children • Parents learn about developmental benchmarks for children • Parents get a better understanding of age appropriate activities and expectations • Observe the teachers and other parents interact with children

9. Inviting Families • Advanced notice and some reminders • Personal invitations • Kids make them and mail them • Networking parents with one another • Personal phone calls • Arrange at times that are convenient for families

10. Helping them feel comfortable & keeping them coming back • Nametags for everyone • Face to face contact during event with parents • Introduce them to each other to help them feel comfortable talking to other parents • Thank you notes after the event

11. What are the key components? • Know your audience • What is the purpose of the event? • What is my role during the event and what are the roles of the other staff at the event? • Be sure to have enough staff • What are my goals for each activity? • Always relate activities to learning objectives • Short educational (15- 20 min) segment for parents while children are in supervised play

12. What are the Key Components? • Free on-site child care if you do a parent education piece • Engaging activities for parent and child • Free things to make and take/ free books • Children performing • Free door prizes – drawings • Food • Everyone is welcome

13. Different Types Events • Play Groups • Family Events • Field Trips • Performance • Presentation/ Speaker

14. Play Groups • Staff need to be actively involved/modeling appropriate interactions with children & adults • Age appropriate activities provided • Talk with all the parents – greet them all • One person at the door • One person to be the organizer, facilitator of the play group • Schedule/agenda – let families know it’s okay to leave when they need to

15. Family events • Connect the activity to curriculum objectives • Have all materials prepared and organized in advance • Discuss how to use these and other inexpensive materials at home for learning opportunities • Activity Ideas • ABCs • Math • Reading / Literacy • Fine Motor • Movement and Music • Backyard Science • Sensory Night

16. Performance Ideas for performances: • Plays / Reader’s Theater from familiar stories • The Mitten, Old MacDonald • Hoe Down • Dance • Concert • Tea Party

17. Presenter/ Speaker Ideas for Speakers and Topics • MSUE, YMCA • Nutrition, Healthy Lifestyles & Parenting • NMCAA • Budgeting , Home loans, Weatherization • Kindergarten Teachers • Child Development- Early Head Start • Librarian – Reading to your child • Musician – importance of music and movement • Power Points from Great Parents Great Start Posted atwww.wmisd.org/ec/resource

18. Parent resources – web links • The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) Office of Early Childhood Education and Family Services Transition to Kindergarten Guides #1-21 http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140-6530_6809-152726--,00.html • Born to Learning Clips www.bornlearning.org • Helping your Preschool Child http://ed.gov/parents/earlychild/ready/preschool/preschool.pdf

19. Parent resources – web links • Creative Curriculum Activity Sheets aligned to learning objectives www.creative curriculum.net (subscription) • Sesame Street “Word on the Street” www.sesamestreet.org/podcasts • Great Parents Great Start www.migreatparents.org • Great Start Collaborative , Parent Coalition and WMISD EC Education Resources www.wmisd.org/ec

20. Parent resources- Web links • Family Fundamentals for Summer Learning School-Home Literacy Connections Activities for students moving from Pre-K to K http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Pre_Kindergarten_Literacy_Activities_66520_7.pdf • Summer Intervention packets / Take Home Kits WMISD SE INTERVENTION KITS http://web.wmisd.org/se/csit/hik/default.aspx

21. Transition to Kindergarten Parent Guides • The Michigan Department of Education (MDE), Office of Early Childhood Education and Family Services, is pleased to share a resource for parents of children entering kindergarten. The resource is a culmination of many offices within MDE working together to develop Parent Guides, a series of tip sheets which highlight a variety of questions parents may have when their children are entering kindergarten. The Parent Guides were developed out of a request from a stakeholder group of parents of young children who reported that the most difficult transition time for them was kindergarten entry. The Parent Guides were reviewed by the Parent Involvement Committee of the Michigan Interagency Coordinating Council (MICC) and were approved by the MICC and authorized for distribution by MDE. • http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140-6530_6809-152726--,00.html

22. Home visits for transitions • Transitions to new situations can be intimidating. • Ease the transition from home to school with a late summer home visit. • August- bring laptop • Show PPT of what happens in the classroom • picture schedule of the daily routines

23. Coordinate with other Groups/ Agencies to promote, support and develop family events in the community