Helping Parents Communicate with Teachers

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library provides library outreach programs at the Latin American Coalition. These workforce development classes are designed to help patrons increase computer skills to communicate, find jobs and create opportunities to enhance employment. Classes at the Coalition are planned and implemented by staff member Irania Patterson. Irania was excited when she connected the content of her class with the students need. Part of the curriculum of the computer classes is establishing an e-mail account. Once the students created the account and practiced it within the class, Irania was not able to tell if the students continued to use the account for communication. The students approached Irania when they wanted to use their e-mail account and computer skills to communicate with their children's teacher, since grades and student information is electronic for Charlotte Mecklenburg School parents. Irania created a lesson that taught parents how to search the CMS website to find their students grades and they used their new e-mail account to communicate with their children's teacher! This was a huge accomplishment for our computer class, but a more important accomplishment for our computer class students. The free services from the library are helping parents access information that helps their child with educational success! For more information on Spanish language computer classes call 704.416.0557 or ipatterson@cmlibrary.org.

First Sememster of Jump Start Reading Ends

The first semester of the Jump Start Reading program has ended and the results are in! Our surveys and evaluations indicate that parents and caregivers gained valuable information regarding the importance of early literacy and children's success when entering school. By the end of the six months, our program coordinators, Veronica Corral, Amy Kukla and Emily Little stated that children were able to demonstrate the six pre-reading skills and parents and caregivers were able to implement these skills when reading to children. Below our program coordinators share some of the highlights from the program:

• ALL of the children at this site (even the 2 year old's) now know what letter their first name starts with!
• All the parents have been extremely appreciative of the meals and incentives. I do not think there was ever a leftover piece of pizza with this group! Everyone was very excited about the books and the children continue to talk about them when I go back to visit.
• I just wanted to mention that the highlight was definitely taking seventy program participants and their families on the bus to the Library. For many of them it was the first time going to the library. They all seemed to enjoy it and many checked out books for the first time.

Families participating in the program were connected to their neighborhood library. This will allow them to continue the learning experience after the formal program ends. In addition, each child participating in the program (approximately 105 children) received a home library consisting of 15 books, which will support their current and growing reading comprehension level. Parents participating in the program received all the program incentives, which included book bags for each family, meals at each of the parent workshops, gift certificates from a local store and certificates of completion.

The next semester for Jump Start Reading begins January 2011. Staff from three of our branch locations will be assisting the department with program implementation. During this session, we will be offering three workshops instead of six. Our parents, caregivers and staff indicated that this would be practical while still being effective. We will keep you posted as we continue to, "Jump Start Reading at Home!"

Roberto is extremely excited about having an e-mail account and using e-mail for the first time. Roberto is 76 years old, and he is participating in the American Library Association, Dollar General, The American Dream Starts @ Your Library program located at our Sugar Creek Branch. Roberto has already taken four, two-hour classes and he and his wife, were excited about the last class, which was setting up and using e-mail. Roberto said this was the first time he has ever had an e-mail account and the first person he was going to contact is his son.

Our new instructor, Sabino Nevarez Garcia has done an excellent job creating a comfortable learning environment for Roberto, his wife Maria and the rest of the students in the class. Originally a teacher from Durango, Mexico; Mr. Garcia uses his experience and talent to help his students increase their job and communication opportunities by learning the skills needed to use the Internet. Mr. Garcia also teaches at our Main Library location and another class is held at the Latin American Coalition.

The homework assignment for last week class was to send an e-mail to the instructor. Our pre-class evaluation indicated that students participating in the program do not have a computer in their home. Roberto and Marie will have to come back to the library to use one of the public access computers to complete their assignment and we hope this connection will assist them in becoming regular library users.

Visit to the Library

We are now three months into our six month Jump Start Reading at Home program. Our teachers, children and families have been introduced to Vocabulary; knowing the names of things, Print Motivation; being interested in and enjoying books, and Print Awareness; noticing print, knowing how to handle a book and knowing how to follow the words on a page. In addition, all programs participants received fifteen books to begin their at-home library. (The 2001 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study states that students from homes with more than ten children's books had significantly higher average reading scores than scores of students from homes with ten or fewer books.)

To continue to expose families and teachers to reading, books and literacy, all program participants will tour their neighborhood library. This is a very important element of the program. By taking our families and teachers to the library, we are given them tools and resources to be self-sufficient and empowered to continue to support their child's early literacy education.

To make this experience possible, we have to identify and remove barriers that will allow all families to participate in the library visit and tour. During a recent visits to Plaza Midwood library, the transportation barrier was removed by purchasing bus passes for all program participants. Over fifty people took the bus to the library. The pictures below illustrate the Bilingual Specialist, Veronica Corral organizing the group to board the bus as well as the library visit and tour. Follow the link below to view all the photos of this library experience.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/libraryinaction/sets/72157624725999301/

Jump Start Reading at Home Print Motivation

When the county car pulls into the parking lot of the Park Apartment Clubhouse, parents and children know it is time for Miss Veronica and the library program. Twenty-three children and their mothers gathered in the activity room to hear stories and participate in music and reading activities that encouraged interest and enjoyment of books. The building block for this session was “Print Motivation.” According to the American Library Association, Every Child Ready to Read program, “Children who enjoy being read to will want to learn how to read.” It is a challenge to measure enjoyment but the clapping, smiles, laughter and program participation lets Miss Veronica know that her audience enjoyed the stories.

During this session, families enjoyed the stories; The Squeaky Door by Margaret Read McDonald, Whose Nose? by Jeannette Rowe and Jump Frog Jump by Robert Kalan. Parents also received information on Spanish language computer classes offered at our Hickory Grove location. As the program ended, parents and children helped Miss Veronica carry her material to the car and they prepared for their next session, which will include a visit to their neighborhood library.

Print is Everywhere!

Last Tuesday evening, Amy Kukla returned to Pride and Joy Daycare for a parent workshop, again focusing on the print awareness module of our Jump Start Reading at Home program. Amy explained that print awareness is knowing that print is everywhere and knowing how to follow print on a page. Parents learned tips on little ways in everyday life to help their children become more aware of print, such as making a list together with kids before going shopping, and pointing out the signs of different stores that you shop at, including the sale signs and the words on different items once in the store.

To help kids learn to follow print on a page, Amy shared tips parents could use when reading a book together with their child, including pointing out the words on a page as they are read aloud, and encouraging the child to help turn the pages, to teach him or her how to handle a book and that in English we read from left to right.

Amy encouraged parents to have fun as they explore the world of print with their children, and suggested fun print awareness activities to do together, such as making a photo scrapbook of pictures taken on a "scavenger hunt" of print in the community - photos of familiar street signs, the signage of neighborhood stores, etc. Print is everywhere - have fun exploring it!