Thanks For Your Comments and Support

Karen Skinner @ http://workingtogetherforliteracy.blogspot.com/

In writing this last blog, I would like to thank everyone that made comments on my blog.  This was my first blog and with the help from the professor, I was finally able to understand how to post and make comments.  I really appreciate all the help that she gave.   To all of you that posted to my blog, I want you to know that your comments were very helpful and helped me as I prepared for my final paper.  It has been great reading all the postings and opinions of my fellow classmates.  Your opinions have helped me have a better insight about my own thoughts on my subject “Parent and Children Working Together for Literacy”.  By reading your comments, I know that we are all working toward the same goal and that is making every day living better for our children.

As I prepare to move on I wish all the best for all my colleagues. I know that we all have different topics and view things in different ways but in the end our goals are the same. I hope each one of you are able to reach your goal in your professional path and continue to remember that we are all here because of our love and dedication to the children.

Observing and Interacting With Families of the Children in Your Setting

As most of you know, my setting is at The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Library.  On Saturday, May 25, 2013, the library sponsored a “School Closing Library Fun Day”. The entire day was open to the community.  Not only was there an opportunity for the families and children to have fun on the rides and other entertainment but they were also able to participate in story hour, arts and craft and other activities. This “Fun Day”, is a jump start for the Reading and Literacy Program. 

During the morning activities, I observed and interacted with the “Allen Family”.  Michelle Allen is 6 and she was with her mother Mrs. Sharon Allen.  I asked Michelle if she was attending this affair for the rides, arts and crafts or reading program.  Michelle stated that she wanted to be here because she loves to read and she always checks out books from the library. Michelle said that when she read she gets a chance to read about exciting places she would like to one day travel. This made Michelle’s mother very happy because she said that she always try and get her children to read.  Mrs. Allen stated that she is always talking to her children about reading because she feels that if you can’t read, you can’t do anything.  She stated that anytime the library put on these special programs she always attend because it give her a chance to meet authors, see different books and just be exposed to reading.  She stated that reading is a wonderful pastime for her and allows her to see the world in other people eyes.  She stated that they will stay for the arts and craft activity but the main event they will stay for will the story hour because they both love listening to other people read.

During the story hour some of the parents got involved by dressing up for the kids while reading them a story.  I spoke to some of the parents and they were very happy to be able to attend and participate in the program.  One of the parents (Mrs. Blackmon) said that she feels like she is missing out when she doesn’t get involved.  She said that she volunteers at least once a week because she feels that literature is so important to kids and they need to realize that they can have fun with reading. Another parent said that she feel awful because she didn’t have time to participate because she has other children.  But, she is going to try and make time during the summer to become more involved.

Later in the day I had the opportunity to talk with the Director of Library about parent involvement and how important it was to her.  The director said that parent involvement is very important but she sometime think that it is not so important to the parents and they don’t always take it serious.  Some parents think that because they work that they are excused from their obligation of parental involvement.  But the library sets up activities for parents during the day and the night in order to accommodate all the families.  The director stated that there are many ways for parents to be involved.  She stated that when they have special programs or story hour, the parent are allowed to observe or participate.  The parents can volunteer for story hour or they can volunteer when they children go on field trips.  During the summer, story hour can be a continuation story that will require field trips so that the children can get the whole picture of the story and this is when the parents are really needed.  I told the director that I am very encouraged with this topic that I have chosen (Families and Children Working Together for Literacy) and asked her if she could give me some information on what I could do to discuss this topic with parents.  She stated that I could start an advocacy group for parental involvement or I could do workshops and tell the parents how to manage being an involved parent and working.  During these workshops I could prepare and give out helpful information for the parents.

One observation that I noticed on this day was how the director, her staff, the parents and children worked with each other.  You could see that the director and staff had put a lot of work into getting ready for this day.  But, you could also see just by observing that the parents and their children had worked hard to make this day a success just by the way they interacted with each other.  All responsibilities were shared with each other as a group. This was a long day but a very successful one.  Over 500 people attended this day-long event.  I am looking forward to my next visit and to the information that the director is always ready to share with me about experiences, suggestions and ideas about programs to promote reading and literacy.

Observing and Interacting With Program Director(s) and Other Administrative Staff in Your Setting

As I have stated before, the site that I am conducting my fieldwork is the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Library and I am working with the Director of the library and the Literacy/Reading Specialist at the library for preschool and other children in the community.

This past week, I spent more time interacting with the Director of the library.  She wanted to talk more about the Family Literacy Programs they have for families working and learning together.  She wanted to talk about how families and community members can use literacy at home and in their communities and how literacy activities occurs naturally during the routines of daily living can help adults and children get things done.  Family literacy can apply to all families and all literacy activities that take place within the family, not just school like activities.  Although family literacy traditionally takes place within the family, family literacy activities and programs can be initiated by organizations outside of families.

The director stated that some of the steps that parents can take to promote family literacy are to always show your interest in your child’s school day (even when they don’t seem excited about it).  Ask them questions that will help you find out about the day.  Ask simple question such as “what was the best part of their day”? Or, “what did you learn today that was an interest to you”?  As you ask your children these question, make sure that they go beyond just giving you a yes and no response.  Make them talk to you and show interest.  Ask your child to sit with you at the computer and visit your child’s school’s website to see what events are coming up.  This will show your child that you are really interested in what is going on throughout the day at school.  Read with your children and engage in activities that support and promote learning.  The director also stated that parent should set up a place at home and prepare it for homework and studying and always encourage your children to get involved in summer reading programs.  These are not hard tasks and can be fun while helping to promote literacy.

The director stated that the staff at the Library is a very tight group of focused, caring individuals that understand how literacy can affect a person’s life.  All members of her staff have well established reading and writing skills.  The director asked me to walk with her and as she introduce me to other staff members. I was introduced to her Adult Program Coordinator who is the head of the Adult Program at Family Literacy and an assistant that help with her programs.  The adult program coordinator has been working with the adult program for over 15 years and student success is her motivation.

There are two additional program coordinators at the Library that share in helping children succeed in school.  They work together in order to pair students with capable tutors, and to schedule family program workshops that teach parents ways to improve their child’s literacy.  The Reference Librarian receives all new books and prepare them to be put in circulation.  There were 2 staff members at the front desk that checked in and out books, movies, internet connection time and directions to anyone or anything a person need information about.  They were very informal and just there to help everyone out.

The one person at the library that is very, very important is the library secretary.  She takes care of everyone.  She makes sure the office is fully stocked with the necessary supplies to assist in improving literacy.  She field phone calls and take donations over the phone to support the programs.  She schedules appointments, manager day to day office operations and takes care of many, many more tasks that come up during the day.

The director invited me to a special evening with all activities dedicated to literacy.  The night featured a storyteller, a puppet show that bought a favorite children’s story to life, a felt board story time and parents and older children acting out fairy tales and nursery rhymes.  The event was very successful and everyone that attended received a free book. The director stated that all of the literacy activities stated above are activities that are used to teach children the foundations for reading and writing.

I learned quite a bit more from my Afternoon and evening observation and discussion with the Library Director.  I have gained more knowledge about Family Literacy and how the family can work together to promote literacy since I have been visiting my site.  I am very excited about this subject and look forward to learning more as each week go by.

I would like to share with you a quote from Shelley Frost, an eHow Education Learning Contributor   “Literacy is a key component to any curriculum, both inside the classroom and at home. Encouraging parents to embrace literacy within their families can prove challenging. Creating family literacy activities gives the parents ideas for incorporating books and reading into everyday life; these home literacy activities also help students improve their reading skills”.
http://www.ehow.com/list_6002855_family-literacy-activity-ideas-teachers.html

Your response is welcome!

Karen M. Skinner

Observing and Interacting with The Professionals of Literacy in Chosen Site

At the site where I am conducting my fieldwork, I spoke with the two professionals in the field of literacy who could best help me with this assignment. One of the professionals is the Director of a Library and the other professional is the Literacy/Reading specialist at the library. As I interviewed the Director, I asked specific questions like-What did she feel the library is doing in the community to help promote literacy in young children in the community in which they live and reside. She gave me some insights into some of the programs that are being offered in her library. She said that the library works in conjunction with the city and helps to sponsor programs for the promotion of literacy in the family by having a Book-A-Thon at the local Community Parks and Rec. This was just done at the end of March of this year. The event is open to all children and their families. The library is sponored by a group of people called The Friends of the Library that helps the library periodically with donations from fundraising events that assists in the purchasing of new material so that the library will have updated and new items for use by the children and the community. They are planning on having future reading clinics that will help not only the young, but adults also that has had difficulty in reading throughout their lives. She stated that the library has volunteers that come in and give their time to help at risk students who may need help with their reading skills because young children are falling far behind in their reading skills before they even reach the 3rd or 4th grade. When the students are started at a younger age in tutoring, they seem to do better in their skills after a few months if they come to the tutoring sessions and work hard at it.

In my 2nd interview of the day, I interviewed the reading specialist at this site. Ms. P says that she loves her job and that she has been doing this job over 15 years. She says that she loves working with th young children doing storytime with them. She says that over the years, she has reached a lot of children not only at the site where she works, but also within the different Headstart classrooms throughout the city. I wanted to interview Ms. P because many years ago, I was a teacher in a classroom that she came to visit and her method of teaching the students was fun and exciting for the children and I saw that she really has a way with the students. She uses puppets, books, music, just to name a few items that helps her to reach out to help the students in their reading skills. Ms. P even uses art to help promote reading skills with the children and I asked her what does the making of art have to do with teaching reading. She says that while the children are working on art projects, it gives her the opportunity to listen to how the students use their words and then she can give them gentle correction without breaking their concentration on the project but at the same time help them to pronounce words correctly. She also lets the students have opportunities to "read" to the rest of the group wheile they  are doing storytime. She says this helps students develop confidence in their skills in fluency and pronounciation.

She has said that it is sometimes very challenging to work with the children at times because some of the students who are kindergarten and grade school age really do not have anyone at home that is really helping the student so therefore it makes her job just slightly harder so she is trying to get the parents involved in the storytime by promoting more Mommy and Me programs during the day for stay at home moms and then she wants to do more evening events for those who can come with their children after work hours.

I look forward to spending more time with these 2 ladies who between the two of them have over 40 years experience.

Read Together: Parents and Educators Working together for Literacy

Good Morning Kendall Classmate:

In my blog I am planning to discuss the important role parents and teachers play in developing young readers.  As we all know learning to read doesn't just happen.  It is group support and is best accomplished when the parents and teachers share common methods and basic understanding about the reading process.  I will be listing and discussing ways that the parents and teachers can help the child become a successful reader and ways to celebrate with the child.

Karen Skinner