School-Home Links Trainer of Trainers Effectively Engaging Parents in Their Children’s Education Developed by the Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition in Collaboration with the Colorado Department of Education

Colorado School-Home Links Objectives:  To understand the correlation between effective parent engagement and increased student achievement  To understand and effectively use the School-Home Links to support standards- based instruction  To give participants the skills to facilitate training to parents on the School-Home Links and how to use the activities as a way to effectively support at home what their children are learning in school

Ice-Breaker By the time the school year is over, I want my son or daughter to be able to…

According to the U.S. Department of Education: Family Involvement in Children’s Education, 1998 Thirty years of research confirms that when parents are involved in their children’s education, children:  earn higher grades and receive higher scores on tests  attend school more regularly  complete more homework

When Parents Are Involved, Children:  demonstrate more positive attitudes and behaviors  graduate from high school at higher rates  and are more likely to enroll in higher education than students with less involved families.

Effective Parent Engagement Occurs When Parents Support the Education of Their Children Both at Home and at School How can parents support at home what their sons and daughters are learning in school?

Why is it so important that your sons and daughters read every day?

Before your child starts school! The difference reading aloud to a child for 30 minutes A DAY can make: By age 5  900 hours of “brain food” (experiential input into brain so it can process it and store it) Reading aloud for 30 minutes WEEKLY: By age 5  130 hours of “brain food” Reading aloud for LESS than 30 minutes WEEKLY: By age 5  60 hours of “brain food”

Home Reading and Reading Achievement Home Reading -- Minutes Per Day Words Read Per Year Reading Percentile 65.04,358,00098% 21.11,823,00090% 14.21,146,00080% ,00070% ,00060% ,00050% ,00040% ,00030%.721,00020%.18,00010% 0.002% Relationship Between Reading Volume And Reading Success Cunningham and Stanovich (adapted from Anderson, Wilson and Fielding) 1988

“Parents and families are the first and most important teachers. If families teach a love of learning, it can make all the difference in the world to our children.” (Richard Riley)

Colorado Model Content Standards House Bill Standards = Specific skills that children need to know at each grade level

CSAP The Colorado Student Assessment Program CSAP = The assessment Colorado uses to determine whether or not a student has learned the specific skills for his or her grade level.

Reading and Writing Standards How can parents support at home what their children are learning in the classroom? One answer: School-Home Links

School-Home Links Provide 100 reading activities per grade for children in kindergarten through third grade. Encourage greater family involvement in helping children improve reading skills and achievement.

School-Home Links Are available for grades kindergarten through third in English and Spanish Have been aligned with the Colorado Model Content Standards for Reading and Writing

Dear family, your child is learning to remember what happens in a book. Read the chapter(s) of your book with your family. Write the title, author, and chapter(s) below. Title:________________________________________________________________ Author: ______________________________________________________________ Chapter(s): ___________________________________________________________ How does the author begin the chapter(s)? What is happening at the beginning of the chapter(s)? ____________________________________________________________________ _ What happens next? ____________________________________________________________________ _ Then what happens? ____________________________________________________________________ __ What happens at the end of the chapter(s)? _____________________________________________________________ _ 3/Reading Process 1.3: Adjusts reading strategies for different purposes

Dear family, your child is learning to tell the difference between fiction and nonfiction. Fiction is a story that is about make-believe people and animals. Nonfiction is writing that is about true people and true events. Write an X on the correct line for each book. Fiction Nonfiction Other 1. Frogs and Toads ______ ______ ______ 2. Moon Monsters ______ ______ ______ 3. Rocks and Minerals ______ ______ ______ 4. The Kids’ Cookbook______ ______ ______ 5. My First Dictionary ______ ______ ______ 6. The Adventures of ______ ______ ______ Pirate Pete 3/Reading Process 1.3: Adjusts reading strategies for different purposes

Reading and Writing Standards Standard #1: Read and understand a variety of materials What other kinds of materials can you make available to your children at home to help them achieve this standard?

Dear family, your child is learning to remember what happens in a book. Read the chapter(s) of your book with your family. Write the title, author, and chapter(s) below. Title:________________________________________________________________ Author: ______________________________________________________________ Chapter(s): ___________________________________________________________ How does the author begin the chapter(s)? What is happening at the beginning of the chapter(s)? ____________________________________________________________________ _ What happens next? ____________________________________________________________________ _ Then what happens? ____________________________________________________________________ __ What happens at the end of the chapter(s)? _____________________________________________________________ _ 3/Reading Process 1.3: Adjusts reading strategies for different purposes

Reading and Writing Standards Standard #2: Write and speak for a variety of purposes and audiences.

Dear family, your child is learning to keep a writer’s notebook. Here are some ways to use a writer’s notebook. Look for and write down ideas for writing on the way home from school, at home, or in places you visit. Look for interesting topics as you read books. Write down your reactions to books or stories you read. Copy favorite parts from a book you are reading or the words to a favorite poem or song. Write down interesting words and expressions you hear. Write family stories. Describe things you notice during the day. Write down memories you have. Make lists of things (birds, trees, kinds of stories, etc). Express your opinions about something important to you. Write down plans you have. Write down questions you have or things you wonder about. 3/Writing and Speaking 2.1: Writes and speaks for a variety of purposes

Reading and Writing Standards Standard #3: Write and speak using formal grammar, usage, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization and spelling.

Reading and Writing Standards Standard #4: Apply thinking skills to reading, writing and speaking, listening and viewing.

Dear family, your child is learning to draw conclusions about a book or story. Read the chapter(s) of your book with your family. Write the title, author, and chapter(s) below. Title: ___________________________________________________________ Author: _________________________________________________________ Chapter(s): ______________________________________________________ What important information did the author tell you in the chapter(s)? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Given this information, what do you think will happen in the rest of the book? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ What makes you think so? _______________________________________________________________ 3/Cognitive Thinking 4.1: Makes predictions, analyzes, draws conclusions, and discriminates

Reading and Writing Standards Standard #5: Read to locate, select, evaluate and make use of a variety of sources.

Reading and Writing Standards Standard #6:Read and recognize literature as a record of human experience.

Dear family, your child is learning to make connections between books and real life. Read the chapter(s) of your book with your family. Write the title, author, and chapter(s) below. Title: ___________________________________________________________ Author: _________________________________________________________ Chapter(s): ______________________________________________________ What problems does the author present in the chapter(s) that are like real-life problems you have thought about or lived through? ________________________________________________________________ If the setting were changed to your neighborhood and the characters were your family and friends, how would the events in the chapter(s) have to change? ________________________________________________________________ 3/Reading Literature 6.2: Reads literature to investigate common issues and interests

Outreach Strategies How do we get parents to attend the School-Home Links workshops?