Parents as Partners, by Dr. Mark A. Angle, Mary Porter and Jean Ann Rhodes

After growing weary of hearing how students weren't ready for kindergarten, these educators came up with a plan – and the funds – to partner with parents

Kindergarten isn't what it used to be. Just ask any veteran kindergarten teacher and he or she will verify that the demands placed on kindergarten students today are greater than at any other time. No longer is kindergarten a place for learning the social skills needed for success at school and sprinkled with a few letters, numbers, shapes and sizes. Today, kindergartners are expected to head to first grade as beginning readers with basic skills in place to ensure their success in core content areas. To be successful with such rigorous standards, children must come to school ready to learn. But how do we educate families who remember the way kindergarten used to be to best prepare their children for school?

A full backpack.
To address this issue, we devised a unique way of partnering with families before the beginning of the kindergarten school year. Teachers had the idea of creating backpacks full of educational materials for families to use at home with their children during the summer prior to the start of kindergarten. In addition to providing families with materials, teachers wanted to have workshops with families to discuss the specific expectations of kindergarten and demonstrate how to use the materials in the same manner our teachers would once school opened. The school administration supported the idea and together we began to look for funding sources. In our case, the funds came by way of a Success by Six grant, which was part of "The Early Learning Opportunities Act" funded by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Welcome home.
Our results were impressive. Using the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) developed by the University of Virginia, we compared the literacy skills of kindergarten students whose families participated in our workshops to those whose families did not participate. Those children whose families participated were more likely to pass the PALS test (90% compared to 77% of those who did not attend) and to pass at higher levels of achievement. Perhaps more important than standardized achievement scores is the confidence that our students – and their families – brought with them when school opened. Since families had met and worked with the administration and teachers several times before the school year began, everyone felt more comfortable and "at home" when school started in August – thus the name of our project, "We Are Family." In a survey of workshop participants, every respondent stated that they would recommend the training session to other parents and that they believed this type of training should be offered every year.

If you are looking for a way to effectively engage parents as partners in their children's education, here are some suggestions:

1. Decide on specific materials you want to include in your backpacks.

We included the following:
• inflatable alphabet and numbers
• beach balls with pictures and words
• write-on/wipe-off board with markers
• counting flashcards
• summer bridge activities workbooks
• handheld chalkboard with sidewalk and regular chalk
• math journal
• wipe-off handwriting chart
• several picture books, including one about the first day of school
• parent packet, which included graphic organizers and state standards
• a backpack to hold all materials, which students could also use in the fall

2. Secure funding.
   While we were fortunate to receive grant funds to initiate our project, other funding sources should be considered if local or district funds are unavailable. This is a project that community partners, civic clubs or corporate sponsors would find appealing.

3. Market your program.
   We had trainers on hand at each of our kindergarten registration sessions. We also informed families of our intent, gave out flyers and motivated parents to attend by having a sample of the no-cost materials they would receive if they participated in the workshops.

4. Remind parents.
   We provided reminder notes and as the dates for the workshops approached, we personally phoned everyone who pre-registered.

5. Provide food and babysitting.
   One reason families with young children do not always involve themselves with school activities is because they are so busy caring for their children. We found that providing breakfast for the morning workshop, dinner for the evening workshop and on-site babysitting was really appreciated by busy, working families.

6. Make the training user-friendly.
   Be sensitive and considerate of the possible limitations parents may have concerning their own literacy. Avoid educational jargon and ensure that families feel comfortable by providing hands-on, concrete examples of what they are being asked to do at home.

7. Follow up.
   After the training, send home thank-you notes, additional materials and tips and make staff available to assist families who are unsure of a specific activity once they get home and try it. We scheduled specific times when families could come visit the school for support and encouragement.

8. Prepare to be impressed.
   When given the tools and support, it's amazing what families will do to ensure that their children are ready for school. While our data is impressive, we are even more pleased with the awareness and knowledge that parents now possess with regard to the new demands and challenges of kindergarten.

Mark A. Angle has been principal of Amherst Elementary in Amherst, VA, since 2003. Mary Porter and Jean Ann Rhodes serve as reading specialists at the school.