Univision Contigo – Clave al Exito – “Key to Success” is media company Univision’s educational online resource designed to help Spanish-speaking parents get involved in their child’s education. The platform serves an access point for helping parents communicate with educators and learn how to help their children read and excel with their studies.

Be a Learning Hero – Another valuable source for vital information and tips for parents on how to stay up to date with all of the growing changes happening in the education system in the United States. With so many new shifts in the current paradigm, it can be tough to navigate so many developments and this website is dedicated to helping parents stay on top of every new change to become more effectively involved in schooling.

The ENLACE Initiative – A program under management by the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA), the ENLACE initiative was created with the sole purpose of helping Hispanic families find the resources they need in order for children to complete high school and pursue college. It serves students in grades K-12 as well as students enrolled in college and universities both public and private.

Lectura Books – Publishes bilingual books to meet the language needs of Spanish speaking parents and their children.

Family Phonics – A program to use with parents who need to learn basic phonics and phonemic awareness, so that they can help their children with English phonics.

Family Stories Curriculum – published by The Latino Family Literacy Project. Requires staff development for effective implementation of a Parent Involvement and family reading program.

The post Parental Engagement Resources for Hispanic Parents appeared first on The Latino Family Literacy Project.

Student populations are becoming more diverse and schools need to begin to foster an educational environment that is culturally aware enough to include all ethnic backgrounds in the classroom. Becoming more cognizant of the many cultures and ethnic groups that make up the student body will not only encourage children to seek out and learn about people and places that are foreign to them, but create an inviting and inclusive learning experience in which every child may participate to the best of his or her ability. This includes maintaining a focus on parental engagement as well, schools can go one step further in their effort towards culturally responsive teaching by developing a method for parental involvement, particularly with children who hail from families that are underserved in the community. Studies have shown that a growing percentage of Hispanic students are part of families where the parents completed only a portion of their own education. In addition, many Hispanic parents have a difficulty with access to teachers due to cultural and language difficulties that may exist. Some of them may also be wary of initiating or continuing any contact with the school due to their legal status.

Cultural awareness isn’t only about tolerance of other cultures in the classroom it also requires a knowledge of the specific backgrounds and barriers of the families of minority students. Hispanic parents decline to keep communication with teachers and school staffs for a variety of reasons and teachers should be trained in how to properly navigate these issues. A number of these families don’t feel welcome at the school, they are uncomfortable in social interactions with teachers, or believe that the school does not hold the same values as they do for the well being of their child. There’s a perception among some families that the school treats their children differently than others because they come from low-income backgrounds or live in public housing. Proper cultural awareness requires that teachers are equipped to navigate these matters successfully in order to steer the children towards positive and meaningful academic outcomes. The value of training teachers in cultural awareness is found in the effect it can have on the student body from all walks of life.

Many schools and programs offer bilingual support from teachers who have learned the language of the majority of English Language Learners in the classroom and they make a concerted effort to engage with the parents of these children in their native tongue. It’s a way to acknowledge the sensitivity of the family while also attempting to bring them into the learning process of the student in order for that child to achieve his or her goals in class.

The Latino Family Literacy Project can help your school with being more culturally aware. This award-winning program has years of experience working with teachers and culturally diverse students and parents. If you’re interested in finding more information about this program schedule a training meeting. They offer both online webinar training and in person workshops.

If you’re interested in the latest information regarding culturally aware classrooms visit our Facebook and Twitter. We look forward to hearing from you.

The post The Value of Training Teachers in Cultural Awareness appeared first on The Latino Family Literacy Project.

The Hispanic population is the fastest growing population in the United States and sometimes schools are left wondering how to bring Spanish-speaking parents into the mainstream educational process. This issues may be too complex for teachers to figure out on their own.

What if parents do not have high educational attainment themselves? Or what if parents don’t understand what parent involvement means in our school system? How can a parent help their child, if the child has surpassed the parent’s educational attainment? How can teachers bring parents into the school-going process?

The Latino Family Literacy Project are experts in training school staff to work with Spanish-speaking parents for schools success and has some suggestions for teachers to review with Hispanic parents at their next school meeting:

At school:
Get to know their child’s teacher and principal
Volunteer to help the teacher in the classroom
Help the teacher by assisting children with special needs
Help with special events or projects
Plan and accompany classes on field trips
Assist coaches at sporting events, or the drama teacher with school plays.
Volunteer to help with parent workshops
Visit your child’s class for parent career day to describe your special gifts.
Assist in the library and help with story time or tours with other parents.
Plan to meet with your child’s teacher regularly to discuss reading level.

At home:
Share as many stories as you can in your first language!
Read to your child – reading aloud is the most important activity that parents can do to increase their child’s chance of reading success.
Discuss the books, stories and characters you read to your child
Share your own family stories
Tell your own childhood stories to your children. Describe what your childhood was like and what you enjoyed doing most as a child.
Provide structure for each day, where possible.
Limit television viewing on school nights or after school work is finished
Talk to your child regularly about what’s going on in school
Help with homework and check homework every night

Teachers can attend our workshops to learn more ways to help the Spanish-speaking parents at their schools so that their children can benefit from home reading routines and other activities.

Watch some testimonial videos for some easy suggestions for working with Spanish-speaking parents.

The post The Hidden Resource for School Success: Spanish-speaking parents. appeared first on The Latino Family Literacy Project.