Robyn asked: "Thank you Ginger for your parent training outline. I was wondering when you schedule these workshops and what the attendance looks like."
I have done day and evening workshops. At one district (with three elementary schools) I offered a day and an evening workshop at each school. The invite had all the dates and welcomed parents from any school to attend any date that was convenient. As far as attendance....... the smallest draw was 5 parents. Actually that was one of my favorite experiences. I sat with them around a table and talked with them on a more personal level. The largest draw was 50 parents. Lots of couples. All totally engaged and interested. I realize that often the parents who come may not be the ones "we need to reach" but from my own experiences, not many parents think aloud in this way so pretty much everyone goes home with a new understanding. Always very grateful for the modeling and opportunity to practice themselves. At one school, I was asked to come back 2 months later after the parents in attendance said they would tell all their friends how helpful it was. The second session was larger there. I have presented at schools where the teachers offer small group settings for the children while the parents are with me in hopes to draw in more parents. At one school I did a shortened version with the parents while the children were with a storyteller. Then the teachers got the parents and their children together in various classrooms (all set up ahead of time by the school- not me!) and they had pictures books set out for the parents to practice thinking aloud with their children that very night. As I walked around to each room I was so touched by the efforts of the parents. At one school I presented at the teachers were not implementing explicit strategy instruction and it was the parents who asked for it to be taught in the classrooms. The principal was able to "use" the interest of the parent population (this is the school where 50 parents attended) to begin to move her staff. Ginger Weincek _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
