Program Shows that Even Illiterate
Parents Can Help Children with School
Migrant parents in the Lynden/Nooksack area became so excited by a series of
literacy workshops that they want to continue meeting even without professional
educators, and other participants have volunteered to help keep school computer
labs open at night for parents’ use.
It has been well documented that the level of reading and writing skills
achieved in school is greatly affected by parent-child literacy-related
activities in the home.
The workshops put on by Parent Services Coordinator Jessie Cavazos and
Curriculum Generalist Tatiana Gabriel of Migrant Education Regional Office 189
were intended to enhance those in-home activities.
The project participants were informed of the Literacy Project during their
Parent Advisory Council Meetings.
“During an orientation meeting we provided an overview of what the literacy
project would be and what kind of time commitment would be required,” explains
Ms. Gabriel.
"We wanted the project to include 20 parents," she explains. "We wanted to
keep it to a manageable size so we could introduce and work with the
strategies."
However, interest was high enough that nearly 30 of the parents wanted to
participate. Some dropped out, but 14 went through the whole project. In
February they began the series of 10 workshops, about once per week.
The class included a mother from Guatemala who spoke Kanjobel and not very
much Spanish, let alone English. Literacy among the participants was very low.
However, it also included a parent who had been a teacher in Mexico.
Mr. Cavazos and Ms. Gabriel wanted migrant parents to realize that they do
not need to know how to read English, Spanish or any other language in order to
help their children do better in school.
"Before the project the parents did not realize the overwhelming amount of
knowledge that their culture and life experiences could offer their children
with their education,” explains Ms. Gabriel. "It was an insight to the parents
that they had something to share, stories to tell. Now when their children come
home, they can use some of the communication strategies they learned to enhance
their children’s academic experience."
The trainers reinforced how important parents are in their children’s lives,
Mr. Cavazos explains. They used principles taught in a brochure called, “50 Ways
to Challenge your Child’s Mind.”
One fun but instructive activity was creating an alphabet book, clipping
pictures from a magazine to match words. This developed word recognition in
Spanish for parents who did not have literacy in their native language, and
showed them one way they could help their children learn to read.
An activity called, "Cuentame un Cuento" or "Tell me a Story," had parents
use a simple story book without words that helped them make up their own story.
"We told them, 'You’re going to think of a story based on these pictures.'
We talked about imagining, pretending, predicting and different techniques of
story-telling,” says Ms. Gabriel.
At first the parents resisted, but by the end of the program, “they became
creative storytellers,” she adds.
A similar activity was called, "Once Upon a Time…" or "Había Una Vez…." One
of the educators would start a story, then stop and make the next person pick up
the story line. The sessions were recorded and later printed up in book form.
In an activity called, "Yo Recuerdo…" or "I Remember…," participants brought
photos from home. They chose their own theme.
Mr. Cavazos digitized the photos to be used in their final scrapbook stories
and made them into a PowerPoint presentation to be projected while participants
told stories about their families.
“Parents were pleased and surprised at what could be done with technology,”
says Ms. Gabriel.
In all these activities "we wanted them to become storytellers," explains
Mr. Cavazos. It really improved their communication at home with their children.
"We tell parents to read to their children," says Ms. Gabriel. “A lot of
parents don’t know what that is. We take it for granted that they know how to
hold the book or even how to read. You don’t have to know Shakespeare or
Cervantes to appreciate storytelling.”
"We started with their own stories, how they came to the U.S., crossed
rivers, lost children. It was amazing what we heard,” Ms. Gabriel says.
The educators were surprised by some of the obstacles to success. For
example, some of the parents had never used scissors, glue or glitter.
“We had to step back and model everything we were asking them to do,” Ms.
Gabriel explains.
“During the process we took the small things for granted. But we learned
from it,” Mr. Cavazos said.
Another effort during the workshops was to help parents become more computer
literate. An invitation was extended to other migrant parents to attend a class,
"Introduction to Computers and Internet.”
There were 35 computers in the Nooksack computer lab, and many of the
parents had to double up on the computers. A separate computer night was held in
Lynden.
“At first the parents were intimidated," says Mr. Cavazos, but by the end of
the evening they were excited as they surfed the net.
Some were worried about certain sites their children could access, but the
educators discussed the need for parents to become familiar with the Internet,
since kids are accessing it elsewhere.
The educators used web sites specifically appropriate for the project. Sites
included parenting tips, reading strategies and family games.
By the end of the session, parents said they wanted more computer access.
Nooksack and other districts have had regular computer nights for their
communities, now migrant parents in those districts are enjoying these evenings.
The final session of the project included a guided tour of the Bellingham
Library, which is part of a county library system giving the parents access to
all libraries within Whatcom County. Every parent secured a library card during
the field trip.
The educators say they learned as much from this initial literacy project as
the parents did.
Mr. Cavazos says they learned a lot about the lives of the parents, their
sacrifices, hopes, love for their children and their thirst and need for
knowledge. They do not want to be left behind in this technological age. They
see it is crucial to their children and their prosperity.
The parents' excitement provided a lot of energy to the project.
“After 2 hours, the parents didn’t want to leave," says Ms. Gabriel. "We
were putting in 12- to 14-hour days, but we didn’t feel tired, either.”
“I was very humbled by this experience,” Ms. Gabriel adds. “Most of the
parents work in the fields all day, come home and do housework, and would still
want to participate in the project.”
“They were willing to come to the school after working long days in the
fields, and we wanted to help them," says Mr. Cavazos.
“We did have an impact on the lives of those families,” says Mr. Cavazos.
“The parents' self-esteem, and their ability to help their children with their
homework was greatly enhanced."
The parents who attended the first series of workshops “believed in the
project and want to help promote it,” says Mr. Cavazos.
One of the parents went to the August Institute to speak to migrant
educators around the state to help promote the program.
“The parents from the Lynden and Nooksack School Districts were so excited
by the project," says Mr. Cavazos, "that they are considering continuing the
project on their own. We are in the process of contacting them to see what
resources we can provide to assist them.”
The two educators are now trying to re-create the project in other school
districts. “We will customize the project to benefit the individual needs of the
district’s migrant population, says Mr. Cavazos.
They also want to help other districts to establish similar projects.
“That’s one of our overall goals, to see this project throughout the
state,” Mr. Cavazos says.
The educators would like to acknowledge and thank the participating
districts, the parents, the teachers and administrators for their support.