Latino parents and second language Archives | The Latino Family Literacy Project Parent and Family Engagement with English Learners Wed, 28 Sep 2016 22:16:30 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.3 Parental Engagement Resources for Hispanic Parents https://www.latinoliteracy.com/resources-to-assist-in-parental-engagement-for-hispanic-parents/ Thu, 01 Sep 2016 18:40:17 +0000 https://www.latinoliteracy.com/?p=14674 One of the biggest obstacles to student achievement is a lack of parental involvement in a child’s academic pursuits. For Hispanic students, this can be a challenge to negotiate due to the difficulties their parents sometimes face when it comes to finding the proper outlets or resources to engage in a meaningful manner. At the heart of the problem is ... Read More

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]]> One of the biggest obstacles to student achievement is a lack of parental involvement in a child’s academic pursuits. For Hispanic students, this can be a challenge to negotiate due to the difficulties their parents sometimes face when it comes to finding the proper outlets or resources to engage in a meaningful manner. At the heart of the problem is communication, or lack thereof, as a significant number of Hispanic parents aren’t comfortable interacting with teachers or school administrators for any number of reasons. For some there are language barriers that prevent parents from discussing their child’s academic progress, for others it could be an inability with knowing how to engage, and even more Hispanic parents are reluctant to get fully involved because they feel that educators are the primary decision-makers when it comes to educating their child and they don’t wish to interfere. Whatever the main obstacles are to full parental engagement, there are Spanish-languages resources available to help parents feel more comfortable about getting involved in the educational process with an eye towards overcoming these problems. Here are just a few of the most widely available and useful resources for Hispanic parents to explore:

Parental Engagement Resources for Hispanic Parents
National PTA – The National Parent/Teachers Association is the leading organization devoted to incorporating parents into the conversation surrounding the education of our nation’s children. They work towards advocating for successful educational outcomes of students by making all stake-holders accountable for meeting this goal. That includes parents and the PTA strives to create avenues to help them get thoroughly involved in the process.

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.

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]]> Learning a Second Language https://www.latinoliteracy.com/learning-a-second-language/ Sat, 26 Sep 2015 17:34:20 +0000 https://www.latinoliteracy.com/?p=10792 Learning a second language is referred to as Second Language Acquisition, and is a major undertaking in any language. How long it takes to acquire a second language will also vary from person to person, based on a variety of reasons. Kids at schools across America are learning English at faster rates than their non-English speaking parents and some kids ... Read More

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]]> Learning a second language is referred to as Second Language Acquisition, and is a major undertaking in any language. How long it takes to acquire a second language will also vary from person to person, based on a variety of reasons.

Kids at schools across America are learning English at faster rates than their non-English speaking parents and some kids may have surpassed their parents own educational attainment, which sometimes makes it challenging for parents to help their children with school homework, or even participate at their child’s school. Many parents may not feel like they have a role at the school.

Dr. Stephen Krashen has researched and published work about Second Language Acquisition and particularly in bilingual communities. http://www.sdkrashen.com

Language and Literacy in the ELL population is diverse and complex, but by far, the largest number of English learners is lead by Spanish speakers with more than 82% of all English Learners.

The Latino Family Literacy Project brings out the best in parents and shows them how they can help their children with reading, using their own skill set, and then provides them with meaningful opportunities for parental engagement and second language acquisition.

Teachers are invited to attend a workshop or webinar to help them understand the fastest growing population in America, and the largest segment of the ELL population.

If a teacher does not speak Spanish, try to attend a workshop or webinar with another teacher or staff who does speak Spanish to work together as a team because there is a role for everyone for a successful parent program!

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