Parents or other caregivers are asked to sign on as the Home Reading Coach at the beginning of every year. They are expected to listen to their young children read and supervise their older children as they read, every night of the year. How do we get parents who are not used to these routines to participate?
1. Students want to participate because everyone else is doing it and it's fun. Prizes are involved. Reading is required homework. The students ask their parents to sign the logsheets to ensure they get credit.
2. Students select the books they want to read each night and the books are fun, fast and easy. There is no failure or struggle. There is no need for the parent to do anything except listen. Even if they speak another language, parents can sit beside their children and listen.
3. Parents appreciate knowing exactly where their children are in terms of reading achievement. They like the way the skills cards show them what to practice with their children. No matter how far behind their child is, experiencing the clear progress that happens from the reading each night feels wonderful and new energy is brought to bear in all areas of the relationship.
4. Parents who don't participate immediately are eventually brought into the excitement as their friends and neighbors talk about the program and their children's excitement and progress.
Through Family Workshops for Home Coaches, parents and caregivers learn how to be effective home coaches, how to engage children in literature-rich book discussions and how to help their children improve.
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