Reminder: Upcoming Family Literacy Activity

I would like to extend an open invitation to all colleagues in the Reading and Writing CoP to take part our upcoming Family Literacy Activity.  According to OCTAE,

“The purpose of the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act’s (AEFLA) basic state grant program is to assist adults in:  becoming literate; obtaining the knowledge and skills necessary for employment and self-sufficiency; obtaining the necessary education and skills to become full partners in the educational development of their children; and completing secondary education or its equivalent.”

On September 15th, 16th, and 17th we will learn about three Family Literacy programs and how each program addresses the unique needs of the community it serves.  Our guest moderators are Dr. Betsy Jones, Director of Polytech Adult Education/Family Literacy in Kent County, Delaware; Staci Croom-Raley, Executive Director for Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), based in Arkansas; and Kirsten Wittkowski, Adult Education Coordinator and Instructor for Briya Public Charter School in the Washington, DC area. 

Do you have, or plan to develop, a family literacy component in your program? 

If so, do you serve a specific population?  How do you meet the unique needs of this population?

What are some activities you can share?

What questions do you have about implementing a family literacy program?

Please join us next week to share your thoughts and ideas!

Jeri

Comments

Money as You Grow Bookshelf can help parents weave money skills into the time they may already spend reading to their kids at home, in a way they'll understand. We would love to explore how we can partner with programs already building family literacy.  Check out the Money As You Grow companion guides here:  https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/money-as-you-grow/bookshelf/

Lyn,

Thank you - what great free resources!  I have used resources from CFPB in the past with adults, but I have not used the Money as You Grow materials.  This site has everything you need, except the books.  However, the books are inexpensive.  I found the he first book on the list, A Bargain for Francis, for less than $3.00.  Additionally there is a YouTube read aloud.

Has anyone else used Money as You Grow?

Thank you again, Lyn!

Jeri

 

 

Hi! My name is Kim Bobin. I'm from Wethersfield, CT.  This is the my first Linc's experience. I just joined today.  

Do you have, or plan to develop, a family literacy component in your program?     I run a Family Literacy Program for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their parents. 

If so, do you serve a specific population?  How do you meet the unique needs of this population?   Our population is English Language Learners.  My classes includes foreign born parents from all over the world: Albania, Bosnia, China, El Salvador, Japan, Peru, Puerto Rico, Turkey, Syria and the Sudan.  

What are some activities you can share?            Right now I'm just learning.  Nothing to share at this point. 

What questions do you have about implementing a family literacy program?               I would love some PACT activities.

Kim,

Welcome to the Reading and Writing Community!  I'm so glad you joined!  I'm sure you will gain lots of great ideas and best practices as this discussion continues.  We will be hearing from some program directors that, like you, work with English Language Learners.  This site, Parent Made Development Toys, has some ideas for PACT activities, but please continue to follow this discussion for some additional activities.  

"See" you soon,

Jeri

Hi Kim,

I work at Polytech Adult Education in Woodside, Delaware.  We serve 60-70 families annually, all of whom are ELLs.  Most of our families are Spanish or Creole speaking, but we also have some from the Middle East, North Africa, and the Far East.  It is definitely a challenge to stitch together services that benefit individuals from so many different backgrounds, but it's also a TON of fun!  We enroll adult participants in leveled classes according to oral competency as measured by the BEST Plus 2.0.  The large majority of our students score at the beginning level so we usually break that group into a high and a low group.  Our adult ESL instruction is built around the class materials we use including the Stand Out series, Burlington English and Reading Horizons.  Of course our teachers also bring in many of their own supplemental activities which are used as daily comprehension checks.

We also work with their children ages 2-12 years.  They are placed into classes based upon age.  Our program is offered at community locations, specifically in 3 area school districts, typically in the elementary school building that has the largest ESL population in the district.  To assess reading and school readiness progress with the children, we used the ASQ3 for the 2 year olds, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) and Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) for the 3s & 4s, and report cards for the school-aged children.  We use the Creative Curriculum and Splash into Pre-K with the younger children; with the school-aged children we work with our host districts to align instruction with the curriculum used during daytime instruction in K-12.  As with the adult literacy classes, our family literacy teachers supplement these materials with many of their own activities.  Families participate in PACT activities for about 20 minutes during every class session (2 times per week).  We use monthly themes to guide PACT planning (like Science, Animals, etc.), always tying things back to parent engagement and reading readiness.  We are also VERY fortunate to have a Parents As Teachers (PAT) program housed within our organization which enables us to provide home visiting services with bi-lingual parent educators to any/all families that are interested.

If you want to take a look at the discussion board for family literacy that is going on over the next couple of days, you'll find more detail about how our program operates as well as some of the successes and challenges we have experienced.  I will also post some adult and PACT activities in that discussion thread.  Thanks!

Over the next four days we will be joined by Dr. Betsy Jones, Director of Polytech Adult Education/Family Literacy in Kent County, Delaware; Staci Croom-Raley, Executive Director for Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), based in Arkansas; and Kirsten Wittkowski , Adult Education Coordinator and Instructor for Briya Public Charter School in the Washington, DC area.  As you participate in this discussion, please consider the following:

1.Describe your experiences working with parents of young children.

2.Reflect on different practices for including families into instruction within your programs.

3.Share any additional resources you have found to be effective.

Although you may read what is posted, in order to participate in the discussion, please be sure to become a member of this community by creating an account.

Jeri