Parent-Child Education Program Description
AVANCE teaches its participants that their role in the development of their children is paramount. Parents are taught that their parental responsibilities are far greater than simply caring for and protecting their children.
The AVANCE Parent-Child Education Program teaches parents that the home must be rich in language experiences for it is through language that learning occurs. Parents are assisted in creating a cognitively enriching environment in their homes which provides their children with the opportunity to develop all of their five senses in preparation for the world experiences they will soon face.
AVANCE participants are taught that a child’s home must be a safe haven that is free from violence and free of abuse. Parents are assisted in providing for their children’s basic needs which can include: food, clothing, shelter, and medical services. Our participants receive classroom instruction on the clarification of values to help them understand how values are transmitted within the family and their respective cultures. This enables them to teach their respective cultures and to teach their children appropriate behavior within their family and to help prepare them for the larger roles they must play in our society.
Most AVANCE participants are poor, inexperienced, and uneducated. Many of them were victims of abuse and neglect as children and had inappropriate parental role models when they were growing up. Very often they are living chaotic, socially isolated, stress-filled lives and are either unable or unwilling to play an effective parental role. Our previous experience in working with this population has shown us that most often, the will is there, but the parenting skills are underdeveloped or absent.
Description of Services and Level of Services
The Program Model:
The AVANCE Parent-Child Education Program Model consists of weekly three hours classes that span the school calendar of September to May, early childhood education for the children of the adult participants, home visits, transportation to and from program services, advocacy and support, meals during class time, and special events and holiday celebrations. Graduates of the program are encouraged to continue participating in a second phase focused on Adult Education and college.
The following describes these components: the weekly three hour class time consists of a Play and Toy Curriculum, a Parenting Education Curriculum, and Community Resource Awareness.
Parenting Class
The fundamental service of the AVANCE Parent-Child Education Program is the nine month span of weekly classes for parents during which 27 Bilingual lessons are taught. The general topic areas include 1) Overview of Parenting, 2) Physical Needs of the Young Child, 3) Childhood Illnesses, 4) Understanding Children’s Behavior, 5) Cognitive and Language Development, 6) Emotional Needs of Children, 7) Social Needs of Children, 8) Self Awareness and Goals Setting, 9) Nutrition and the Young Child, and 10) Prenatal and Infant Needs. These lessons have been developed by AVANCE and proven effective over the years to teach parents how to become their child’s first teacher. These lessons also:
- help parents make sound decisions concerning their children’s physical, social, emotional, and cognitive needs
- raise their level of hopefulness for themselves and their children
- increase the value of education
- teach parents how and why they should read to their children on a daily basis
- improve their self-worth
- enhance their value of their children and the special potential possessed by them
- improve their ability to adequately provide for healthy children growth and development and
- program parents and their children are success
Toy Making Classes
A supportive and complementary activity to the parenting lessons is the Toy Making Component. Children learn through play and toys are the child’s primary tools for learning. However, for poor children, toys are many times a luxury and their parents can not afford to provide many toys. Toys labeled as “educational” are usually more expensive than “regular” toys.
Toymaking allows parents the opportunity to learn how to make items which the child can play with at home and at the same time parents become keenly aware of the importance of learning through play. The perception of “parents as the child’s first and most important teacher” which is repeatedly emphasized during the parenting class is reinforced in toymaking. Upon completion of each toy parents are taught the many learning opportunities and basic concepts that each toy can teach. There are many benefits to the toy making activities. The first and most obvious benefit is the child realizing that the parent is actually making a toy for him. The message is “my mom cares so much for me that she is taking time and working hard at making a toy just for me.” This instills a feeling of self worth, pride, and special bonding between parent and child. Secondly, it structures times for the child to play and for the parent to observe the child at play. As the child is playing, the parent assumes the different roles of a teacher—a designer of learning environments and a consultant of resources to stimulate learning. Thirdly, as the parent becomes more aware and involved in the child’s play, more opportunities are created for practicing and mastering basic concepts and skills. The child’s self confidence and self concept is bolstered with every positive encounter occurring during play. Fourth, toymaking sets the stage for the parent and child to begin communicating and interacting in healthy, positive ways.
The Toy Making Hour also has benefits for the parents:
- they form support systems with each other as they informally interact with their classmates
- they develop a sense of pride and accomplishment, for many, this is a first time experience
- they discover unknown talents and skills
- they learn the skills they have to teach their children: using paints, coloring, tracing, cutting, pasting, outlining, measuring, etc.
- they realize that there are endless possibilities for using scraps, discards, and inexpensive materials for making attractive and useful toys
- the making of toys serves a vehicle for parents to demonstrate love and interest in the welfare of their child
- they acquire “teaching” skills that can be generalize to everyday life and home activities, such as labeling actions of cooking, washing, and mopping.
They become aware that learning occurs everywhere and that they can stimulate and enrich learning processes for their children. The child is encouraged to be perceptive, inquisitive, and attentive.
Toymaking also introduces parents to spending “quality time” with their child. The making of toys for one’s child brings to a conscious level the need to spend more time with their child. This means time that is enjoyable and relaxing for both parent and child. Taking time from the busy schedule of adulthood to play nurtures communication, bonding, and interaction between parent and child. As the child grows older and seemingly less close to the parent, the need to feel comfortable with each other becomes extremely important for addressing sensitive and intimate topics.
Community Resource Awareness
Knowledgeable professionals are invited on a weekly basis to offer information on a variety of topics, such as family violence and prevention, substance abuse prevention, health, nutrition, safety in the home and life coping skills. Participants report to staff that learning about new resources gives them the courage to seek the assistance needed to overcome family problems.
Many of the participants are extremely isolated before they enter the program, and it is important that they be exposed to a variety of information and learn how to access community services. Speakers address issues that are relevant to parents. Learning about the variety of social service agencies/community resources and eligibility requirements help the parents access necessary services. Parents begin to overcome their fear of bureaucracy and systems. When parents go seek a service they have been made aware of, they go well prepared with all of the required documentation to make the application and they know that if they encounter problems they can ask for the person they met in their classroom to intercede for them. Being able to access needed services helps to reduce the stress in their lives. Parents become more confident in their ability to advocate for themselves. All the speakers donate their services.
Successful role models in the community who share similar experiences with the parents are also invited to speak to the parents on a regular basis. They help to motivate and encourage the parents to pursue and seek opportunities to improve their lives and communities.
The agencies that come to speak to the parents become more aware and responsive to the needs of the community. Their partnership with AVANCE becomes one with a shared mission and AVANCE parents tend to be served better.
Early Childhood Education
Parents would not be able to take advantage of the classes offered by AVANCE if it were not for the care and education provided and made available for all their children who are not in school. When parents come to class, they bring with them their children and they are cared for at the AVANCE Family Learning Center in an environment and playspace specifically designed to according to ages and stages of ability. Early Childhood Instructors and aides prepare lesson plans appropriate for the age group that has been assigned to them. These plans center on a monthly theme or unit which emphasize language development, learning of basic concepts and skills, and social competence. Learning using all 5 senses is incorporated into all activities and concrete experiences are used to introduce new vocabulary, concepts, and skills. Parents in the program are asked to volunteer at least 12 times during the year in the early learning classrooms so that they can practice the skills and concepts being learned with children other than their own.
Home Visits
The AVANCE Home Teaching component is an extension and a follow up of the AVANCE parenting education provided at the AVANCE center. It allows for individual attention to be provided to the family in a familiar environment and creates the opportunity to gain better insights into the family’s conditions and needs. Staff makes every effort to assist the family obtain the needed social services outside the realm of parenting; such as food, clothing, shelter, counseling, and other economic assistance. The quality of the interaction and communication occurring between the parent and the child can be observed first hand. The home visits allow for the demonstration of parental understanding of learning through play and appropriate environmental stimulation. Home visits are scheduled every month for each family and promote one to one teaching of the parent in skill areas that the parent seems weak in or is having a difficult time understanding.
Other Activities
Parents have a multitude of needs and motivational levels. The AVANCE staff has learned that the following activities have a very important and supportive role to play in helping parents learn and practice new skills and to alleviate many of the stresses faced in their lives. With limited incomes, poor transportation, and high level of isolation the family has few recreational outlets. Annual field trips to the Circus, the zoo, and parks; and holiday celebrations promote family centered activities, inexpensive recreational experiences, and opportunities to learn about their culture. Later they are able to make these activities a part of their family traditions because they have learned their value and importance; and they have learned how to experience these in a way that is affordable and rewarding.
Regular field trips to the library are also scheduled for the parents so that they have a source of providing books and other enjoyable learning materials for their families.
Learning about other social service agencies and organizations help the parents learn how to access services that they need to meet some of the problems they face. On a weekly basis, representatives of these agencies and organizations are invited to visit and share with the families the services and eligibility requirements for obtaining services.
Other Supportive Services
In order for parents to fully participate in the AVANCE services it is essential that the following be provided:
- Transportation – For all AVANCE services and activities, transportation is made available for the parents and children
- A Nutritious Meal – Served to all the children when they come to the classes with their parents
- Follow-up – Staff call parents on a daily basis to remind them of the class and to schedule transportation. Parents report that this personal outreach tells them that their presence is important and the staff cares about them enough to make that daily call.
- Addressing the Social Service Need – Staff develop positive working relationship with groups, individuals, and institutions to assist families with emergency food and income assistance, counseling, mental health needs, emergency housing, and medical needs. Staff does not just make a referral but guide the family every step of the way, personally speaking with the service provider if necessary and being persistent in requesting a service for which the family may quality. Staff helps the families cut through the red tape and understand the forms and application process required for many of the services. Every thing from IRS, food stamp applications, social security appeals, code compliance, notary public services, and eviction notices, to name a few, are handled by someone on staff when requested. Families trust and feel free to ask for help. They know that if the staff can’t help them personally, they will find someone who can.
Other Important Elements
AVANCE has recognized the barriers that this population faces in accessing services and has designed the services so that they are consumer friendly and barrier-free.
- Services are free.
- Services are community-based. — in the housing projects, –in the neighborhood being served; –at the school.
- Staff is bilingual, culturally sensitive, and from the community being served.
- Services/Classes are available at times convenient to the parent.
- Parents are able to move along a continuum of services as they progress from one level of advancement to another. The parenting classes are the first step and then the Adult Literacy for ESL and GED classes. From there the parents can continue and enroll into college. Parents know that “once an AVANCE parent, always an AVANCE parent,” meaning that they can always access the services of AVANCE whenever they are needed.
- Services offered are relevant to the daily lives of the participant and respond to the needs they exhibit; however, trivial or major they may seem.
- In everything we do, we project respect for the participant.
Adult Literacy Classes
Adult literacy classes of GED preparation and ESL (English as a Second Language) are offered at each service site or in partnership with nearby providers. Once the parents understand the value of education for their children, they recognize the need for themselves to complete their own education. Local adult education service providers assign the GED and ESL instructors to AVANCE sites, while AVANCE provides the classroom space and other supportive services to allow the parents to return to school. By completing their GED, parents send a very clear message to their children – “education” is so important, that even I (the parent) am attending school to complete my high school education. For many obtaining their GED is only the first step in their educational goals. AVANCE parents are assisted in enrolling into college and they learn to be a college student and learn the intricacies of financial aide, registration, scheduling classes, and adjusting their personal lives and family responsibilities with the requirements of being a college student.