Rationale

Parents want to do the best for their children and gain recognition for their existing skills and develop new skills, which will enable them to work with their children to improve their learning skills.

Philosophical framework

The course is-

• a partnership between parents and facilitators
• learner centred
• flexible
• practical
• culturally empowering
• convening in a friendly, supportive environment empowering participants to take part fully and gain confidence and independence in an atmosphere of peer and tutor support.

Target Group

Parents/carers of children 0-7 years, who, in the main, have few or no formal qualification, may have basic skills needs and wish to return to education.

Aims

• To motivate parents to recognise the unique role they play in their children’s education.
• To encourage parents to develop awareness of children’s learning and developmental needs.
• To provide parents with practical skills and ideas of how to stimulate and support children’s learning within the home environment and everyday life.
• To enhance parent’s self confidence and esteem as individuals, parents and partners of schools.
• To motivate parents to take an interest in not only their families education but their own.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand that as primary models for children there is a need to develop a positive attitude towards learning.
• Implement a range of techniques and strategies to encourage and stimulate children’s language, reading, writing and maths skills.
• Provide evidence from the home environment of practical activities that develop children’s learning.
• Explain ways in which the course has enhanced confidence.
• Identify ways in which communication with school has changed
• List personal objectives and future learning opportunities.

Content

Learning

• The identification of learning opportunities in the home, increasing knowledge of different learning styles and looking at the key elements of successful learning.
• The development of a positive attitude to learning.
• The importance of play and games.

Oral Language

• The significance of developing talking and listening skills with children and how these skills can be enhanced through role play, discussion, non verbal communication and recordings.

Spelling, Reading and Writing

• The importance to the development of reading, writing and spelling skills in the teaching of rhymes, songs and poems.
• The value to language skills of looking at the underlying patterns of stories and storytelling.
• The literacy skills that are developed through the general interest of reading and talking about books and their features.
• The exploration of how interacting with print in the environment encourages the development of reading and writing skills.
• The familiarisation of the development of children’s handwriting and the identification of tasks that support it.
• The intermingling of different learning strands in the making of books.

Maths

• The exploration of the language of maths and the development of mathematical concepts through everyday activities and games.
• The recent changes in mathematical teaching.

Communication

• The exploration of community resources available to families.
• The communication with schools and other professionals.
• The investigation into further learning opportunities.

Methods

• The course will utilise a range of learning strategies including:
• Presentation
• Discussion
• Group/pair-work
• Demonstration
• Role play
• Discovery

Activities

• Group discussion
• Group and paired tasks
• Questionnaires
• Practical workshops
• Guest speaker
• Outing
• Project
• Learning log

Materials

Can be gathered at home or purchased inexpensively. Crates or boxes to store the collected materials

Resources

• Facilitator
• Bright comfortable room
• Tea and coffee making facilities
• Family Learning Resource Guide
• Photopak
• Parents booklets
• Flip chart

Links

Existing groups in adult education, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Back To Education Initiative (BTEI), workplace literacy. Lone parent initiatives, traveller programmes.

FETAC modules at foundation level such as communications, personal effectiveness, childcare.

Evaluation

Evaluation carried out on two levels, informal and formal.

Informal – ongoing, regular feedback, checking relevance to needs.

Formal – written and oral questionnaires at the end of the course.