DOCUMENT RESUME PS 023 022 ED 382 317 Sandell, Elizabeth J. AUTHOR Review of Parent Education Resources for Adults with TITLE Low English Proficiency. PUB DATE 95 NOTE 12p. Family Education, Saint Paul Public Schools, 740 York AVAILABLE FROM Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55106. Book/Product Reviews (072) PUB TYPE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE Adult Education; Book Reviews; Courses; Cultural DESCRIPTORS Awareness; *Family Programs; Hmong; *Instructional Materials; Lesson Plans; 'Limited English Speaking; Literacy; *Parent Education; *Parenting Skills; *Parent Materials; Program Descriptions; Spanish; Uncommonly Taught Languages Family Literacy IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT This paper reviews seven parent education resources for adults with low English proficiency, focusing on materials that are flexible and adaptable to parent education programs. Each review lists the name and publisher of the resource, date of publication, cost, intended audience, content, goals, format, and reviewer (1) "Nurturing Program for Parents comments. The resources include: and Young Children" (Family Development Resources), a remedial "Small Wonder" (American Guidance parenting skills program; (2) Service), which uses activity cards to explain child development; (3) "Child Care Picture Books" (Minnesota Early Learning Design), a series of six parenting skills picture books available in English and (4) "Preparing for School in America" (St. Paul Public Spanish; Schools, Minnesota, a series of lesson plans for use by teachers with (5) "Learning Together...for Hmong and Hispanic Hmong families; Families" (United Way of St. Paul, Minnesota), a series of resources (6) "Basic Parenting" and activities for parent education programs; (Family Information Services), a workshop-by-mail program for educators and parents; and (7) "Motheread/Fatheread/Baby Ready/Baby Steps" (Motheread), a family literacy program. (MDM) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and faldretterticrn EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER f ERICI NA This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this document do nol necessarily represent othc,ai OERI position or policy REVIEW OF PARENT EDUCATION RESOURCES FOR ADULTS WITH LOW ENGLISH PROFICIENCY PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANrEC BY vz-cLie*C TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERICr copyright 1995 by Elizabeth J. Sandell Available from: Family Education Saint Paul Public Schools 740 York Avenue Saint Paul, MN 55106 612/293-5275 BEST COPY AVAILABLE CONTENTS 3 Reviewing the Material Parenting Education Resources 5 #1 Nurturing Family Program 6 #2 Small Wonder! 7 #3 The Child Care Picture Book series 8 #4 Preparing for School in America 9 #5 Learning Together 10. #6 Oasic Parenting #7 Motheread/Fatheread/Baby Ready/Baby Steps 11 INTRODUCTION The resources included in this packet were reviewed by ten paraprofessional home visitors who work in Family Resource Centers through the Saint Paul Public Schools. The group included persons from American, Latino-Hispanic among these cultural communities: African American, Southeast Asian American, and European American. Before reviewing the material, the home visitors determined ten criteria for selecting resources for parenting education and support for include: parents who have low English literacy skills. These ten criteria 1. Written in simple words. 2. Produced with drawings and pictures of people from their culture. 3. Available in the home language of their culture, as well as in English. 4. Written from within their culture, not simply translated. 5. Include values from their culture. 6. Include typical songs from their culture. 7. Include typical person's names from their culture. 8. Accompanied with videotapes or audiotapes. 9. Easy for paraprofessionals to use. 10. Flexible and adaptable, depending on the family's preferences. Reviewers also wanted flexible material in order to be able to match the child's developmental stage. The authors of the resources must acknowledge that children have individual personalities and capacities and that learning styles differ among children. Since the process is more important than the product, a competitive environment is inappropriate for used in interactions with young children. Positive reinforcement should be children. The home visitors also wanted the resources to have these considerations: 1. an effort to protect the child's cultural identity. 2. a view of parents as teachers of culture. 3. the integration of culture in parenting education. 4. including home languge in texts. 5. maintain open communication with parents and children page 3 LL Parent education material should include the values of the home's culture, even if alternatives need to be suggested. For example, in Hmong culture, children must obey their parents, but in America, Hmong children think they do not have to obey. Curriculum should include alternative discipline techniques and explain why physical discipline may not be the best alternative. As another example, in the African American cultures, nt,,rition is usually taught by the grandparents. However, infants cannot digest some foods that were formerly offered. Curriculum should explain what a culture has done in the past and what we have learned about such practices. Hispanic families often use bottles to quiet fussy babies and hold them in their arms. Curriculum should explain alternatives for quieting children and explain possible consequences of those choices. Additionally, the home visitors preferred that the print be large and easier to read. Illustrations with appropriate facial characteristics and expressions were attractive to This group. It was important to them that the material be flexible enough to select for specific family situations and that the material be easy to read, because home visitors do not have much time to organize materials. If English words do not have easy translations into the parent's first language (e.g., Hepatitis B), then detailed explanation in the parent's first language. Having resources in should be provided audiocassette or videotape was viewed as a positive. Material reviewed included resources which have a "Minnesota connection." In other words, they were developed or published in Minnesota or they are in wide-spread use in Minnesota. The home visitors reviewed material from eleven sources. The reviews and descriptions included in this packet are only for materials from the seven sources which these ten home visitors felt were worth And the resources are included in the order in which the purchasina b . reviewers would have ranked them. page 4 5 #1 Nurturing Program for Parents and Young Children (Birth to 5 Years Old) written by Stephen J. Bavolek, Ph. D. and Juliana Dellinger Bavolek, Ph. D. Second Avenue, Publisher: Family Development Resources, Inc., 767 Eau Claire, WI, 54703. Cost: various Date of Publication: 1985 Audience: intended for parents, special material for teen-age parents for parents of children age four to twelve years Material is intended to provide a comprehensive treatment and Content: parent-child educational program tailored to remediate inappropriate and skills in order to interaction. Parents are assisted to acquire knowledge interact with their children in supportive and non-abusive ways. Goals: increase parent knowledge of child development increase parent knowledge of behavior guidance techniques increase parent self-awareness increase parent ability to be empathetic The Program Implementation Format and Resource Materials: variety of Manual organizes material into 15 sessions. There are a wide Nurturing Program, including: resources available for the Program Implementation Manual Family Resource Handbook Family Log Nurturing Family board game Parent Participation Certificates Nurturing Quiz Activities Manual for Children Behavior Management Program that Comments: Reviewers liked the handbook with cartoon pictures questions and allow parents to get the idea without a lot of words. The during worksheets are good for discussion groups or to leave with parents for professionals, home visits. Reviewers thought the manuals were okay print was too small but agreed that there were not enough pictures and the in the manuals page 5 #2 Small Wonder! written by Merle B. Karnes, Ph. D. Publisher: American Guidance Service, Circle Pines, MN 55014 Cosh various Date of Publication: 1979 Audience: intended for facilitators of parent education and support grol,,)s for parents of children age birth to three years Content: Activities are organized by child's age range to help children discover, imitate, repeat learning opportunities. Ideas use household activities that can have educational uses, e.g., eating finger food, going shopping, feeling textures, etc. Activity cards are easy to select and useful for home visiting. Ideas correspond to stages of child development in physical, intellectual, emotional, and language growth. Goal3: increase parent knowledge of development of children of various ages increase parent self-awareness Format and Resource Materials: The resources include 150 activity cards, a hand puppet, a child growth diary, a child's plastic book, picture cards, and stories and ideas. Comments: Reviewers thought Small Wonder! was especially useful for explaining about the development of certain ages of children. page 6 Picture Book series #3 The Child Care Learning Design available from Minnesota Early Design, ;23 North Third Street, Publisher: Minnesota Early Learning Minneapolis, MN 55401, 612/332-7563. Cost: $10.00 each Date of Publication: 1986 Audience: intended for parents and facilitators for parents of children age birth through two years of hearing for parents who are deaf and hard particularly Mexican and also available for Spanish-speaking parents, Mexican-American families of adolescents and younger children also available for Hmong parents child care and development. The Content: Participants will learn about health, development, nutrition, play, curriculum describes concepts of child Each section begins with accident prevention, and family management. and include short sentences and words to know which are well-illustrated "Do not trust baby to be safe. clear, concise wording. For example: Check, check, check on baby!" series includes six books: Format and Resource Materials: The Baby Is Here! Feeding Your Baby Healthy Child/Sick Child Safe Child and Emergencies Baby Grows Baby Plays manual, and extensive time- Resources include parents' book, facilitators' assistance. tested MELD training and technical simple words and basic pictures. Comments: Reviewers appreciated the observation. They also liked the "The pictures tell why!" was one parenting topic. organization of material by child's age and page 7 #4 Preparing for School in America written by Ann Lovrien, M. A. Publisher: Family Education, Saint Paul Public Schools, 740 York Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55106, 612/293-5275. Date of Publication: 1990 Cost: $8.00 Audience: intended for parents, parent educators, and early childhood teachers for mothers of children age three, four, and five years Content: The resource includes an introduction to Hmong history and culture in America. The four units are: vocabulary, stories, self-care, and sorting and classifying. From the Hmong cultural perspective, the concrete methods are presented as enjoyable, but serious work. The teaching strategies encourage parents to participate along with their children. Material is flexible and may be used in any order. The content acknowledges the differences in values between cultures, but, for example, emphasizes that girls deserve the same opportunities as boys and that children learn through play. The material uses English language children's literature (e.g., The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Caps for Sale). Goals: increase child school preparedness enhance the mother's role of teacher increase the mother's understanding of readiness skills and their relevance to their child's education enhance the self-confidence of children and mothers Format and Resource Materials: 30 lesson plans could be stretched over many weeks of parent-child interaction. Comments: Reviewers thought some sections used words that are hard to use in the Hmong culture, e.g., "remember" which is difficult to translate into Hmong. One activity suggested using the idea included "or another traditional folk tale," but reviewers wanted the authors to list what those folktales might be. page 8 #5 Learning Together... for Hmong and. Hispanic Families prepared by Empowering Learners Collaborative Publisher: United Way of the Saint Paul Area, 166 East Fourth Street, Saint Paul, MN 55101, 612/291-8321. Cost: unknown Date of Publication: 1993 Audience: intended for facilitators of parent education and support groups for parents of children age three and four years for parents who are Hmong or Hispanic-Latino Content: This is a family-based curriculum for Hmong and Hispanic families of young children. Many interaction activities are open-ended; and many are skill-oriented (e.g., cutting out bird shapes) to promote skills and outcomes to help children successfully enter school. Goals: Enhanced cultural identity Improved language development, visual and auditory discrimination Group interaction Fine motor and large muscle development Making choices and following Directions Creativity and Self-care skills Format and Resource Materials: Resources and activities are organized into several sections: Children's Hour Activities Family Time Activities Home Tutoring Activities Illustrations/Patterns Resource Information and Parent Resource Guides Comments: Reviewers thought the material would be attractive to parents who want their children tO succeed in American school settings. They thought the pictures were excellent and liked that the material came from the cultures. However, they noted that the pages were not numbered and could become easily mixed up. page 9 1.