Resources

     The Our Stories Keep Us Connected package includes a parent guide and video to help parents and teachers understand children better through the stories they tell. Children hear stories every day, and through these stories they learn to make sense of the world. Our Stories Keep Us Connected builds on the premise that "learning is building new ideas from stories we live, see, and hear all around us." Through listening to these stories, parents and teachers can build a stronger relationship with their children and gain a new appreciation for how and what they learn. The guide can be used by staff and parents together, groups of parents, or by parents alone with their children. It is available in English and Spanish.

For a free copy for Head Start grantees, fax your request to the Head Start Information and Publication Center at 703-683-5769.

Linking Our Voices

     If you've ever wondered how to get parents involved in program governance, you should take a look at the new Linking Our Voices training package. LOV, as it is affectionately known, is a video-based training package from the Head Start Bureau that is designed to help the entire Head Start community understand the value of parent involvement in program governance. It also helps in making the transition to the revised Program Performance Standards.
     Each part of the LOV training is designed to help programs make family and community partnerships a reality. The package, available in English and Spanish, contains a 22-minute training video and a facilitator's manual for four workshops, with detailed instructions. The workshops are:

Music to My Ears. The first workshop in the package provides a step-by-step way of understanding and appreciating the benefits of parent involvement in program governance. Participants examine benefits of partnerships to the parent, the parent's family, to the program, and to the community at large.

Having a Voice. This session describes the various levels of parent participation in program governance, from the Parent Committee to the Policy Committee and/or the Policy Council. Each level empowers parents to share in the processes of making decisions about their program.

Three-Part Harmony. The third workshop in the series focuses on shared decision making. Activities provide excellent experimental opportunities for staff, parents, and governing body members.

Theme Songs. This is an innovative training module where participants identify the concerns and issues that will focus their involvement for the year. The workshop takes them through the processes of selecting issues and then campaigning for their support by the larger body of parents.

Special training is available to local programs on customizing and using the LOV package as a year-long training program. For additional information, call Akil Rahim at 1-800-628-8442 or 1-800-688-1675.

National Training Guides for the Head Start Learning Community

Building on Success is designed for Head Start staff working in partnership with parents on self-sufficiency goals. It focuses on the skills needed to: develop a personal plan for education and employment; create career ladder opportunities for parents within the Head Start program; and mobilize community resources to support families.

Building Supportive Communities focuses on the significance of strong relationships within both Head Start and the broader community. It illustrates how positive relationships among staff, families, and community organizations provide critical support for Head Start children and families. The skills needed to build and maintain strong partnerships are also discussed.

Communicating with Parents addresses the value of effective communications-speaking and listening skills, as well as the ability to write clearly and concisely. Good communication skills are especially useful in building partnerships with parents and planning communication strategies at the program level.

A Design for Family Support reinforces Head Start's role as a family support program and defines the framework for supporting families. The concepts and principles of supporting families are presented along with the skills necessary to develop those relationships that enhance family support.

Engaging Parents addresses the basics of parent involvement. Information is provided on adapting activities for individual parents, identifying staff support of parent involvement, and analyzing current parent involvement practices. Creating a common vision for parent involvement is also discussed, along with an outline of observation and listening skills needed to identify how each staff person contributes to and supports parent involvement.

Family Partnerships: A Continuous Process focuses on those skills of the family goal setting process that support family growth: learning from significant life events, identifying internal and external supports, visioning, creating a family picture, setting goals, developing and implementing a family plan and providing follow-up.

Partners in Decision Making discusses training for staff and parents on how to work together as a team, respecting each other's unique contribution to the group process and to the Head Start program. Specifically, this guide focuses on creating a climate for decision-making partnerships, building trusting relationships among team members, and decision-making strategies.

Supporting Families in Crisis provides staff with a framework for understanding, identifying, and responding to family crises. The guide also provides staff with the opportunity to explore safety issues posed by crisis situations; to learn strategies for reducing personal risk; and to learn strategies aimed at preventing crises in vulnerable families.

Other Head Start Resources

Looking at Life Curriculum: Session Plans is an education program that focuses on parents and promotes group support during the learning process. It offers parents opportunities to look at their lives from new perspectives and to share ideas and support with other parents. The curriculum contains four modules, with three sessions in each module. The modules can be used independently, or several modules can be grouped together for a longer program. Groups of 8 to 20 parents can explore a wide range of topics using a variety of learning modes: discussion, brainstorming, reading, information sheets, role play, art activities, children's games and play, exercise, and relaxation techniques.

Head Start Handbook of the Parent Involvement Vision and Strategies is a two-part manual to help programs implement the Head Start Vision for Parent Involvement. Part I discusses each element of the Head Start Vision for Parent Involve-ment and includes questions to help programs think through their own response to the parent involvement mission. Part II presents a variety of strategies that Head Start programs can use in carrying out the vision. Action steps, activities, and tips for implementation are included. Programs are also encouraged to develop their own strategies for parent involvement.

Additional Resources
(not available through HSIPC)

Head Start: Helping Families Move from Welfare to Work is a report of the Children's Defense Fund's Child Care and Development Division. It describes some of the ways that Head Start programs across the country are helping families cope with the new welfare laws. The report cites "adult education, computer training, pre-employment training, job shadowing and internships" as just a few of the opportunities that Head Start is offering. In addition, the report highlights Head Start's emphasis on collaboration as a means to provide services to the community. For more information, contact the Children's Defense Fund at T: 202-628-8787 or visit its website at http://www.childrensdefense.org.

New Visions for Parents
Zero to Three has developed a set of materials entitled New Visions for Parents for parents (or staff who know of parents) who are concerned about their child's development. The materials include: (1) a letter for parents about developmental assessment of babies and very young children; (2) New Visions: A Parent's Guide to Understanding Developmental Assessment; (3) Planning and Preparing Your Child's Developmental Assessment; and (4) a list of terms frequently used in developmental assessment. For more information, contact Zero to Three at T: 202-638-1144 or http://www.zerotothree.org.

A Training Manual for Developing Family and Community Partnerships with Head Start-Preschool Families
This manual guides Head Start staff through the process of developing family and community partnerships. Specific steps, activities, and follow-up exercises and questions are provided. The manual also offers information on how to assist a family in developing goals, planning, and problem solving. Elements of the manual include: "Developing a Family Partnership Agreement," "Linking Head Start-Preschool Families to Resources," and "Using Collaboration and Advocacy in Community Partnerships." For more information, contact James Bush at T: 213-653-8332, or write to him at 6399 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 114, Los Angeles, CA 90048. The cost for the manual is $35 plus $6 shipping and handling.

The Safe Havens Training Project
This three-part, video-based series focuses on community violence and takes a close look at what our children are coping with in their day-to-day lives. The impact that violence has on a child's development is examined, along with what teachers, parents, and community members can do to provide children with a sense of safety and security. In addition to the videos, training resources include materials for three workshops, an outreach supplement for parents and community members, and resources. For more information, contact Elizabeth Seamans, writer and producer of Safe Havens, at T: 412-687-2990; F: 412-687-1226 or write to Family Communications, Inc. at 4802 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. The cost for the entire kit is $175 plus $7.95 shipping and handling.

A Parent Mentor Training Guide
This guide is based on the work of the Parent Partners mentoring program at Project REACH in Newport, Rhode Island. The program is based on the belief that the way to help a child is to help a family and offers guidance on developing a mentor program-training mentors from the community to partner with parents who are having difficulty. The program draws on a community's strengths and collective wisdom through its parent-to-parent approach. For more information, contact Ray D. Davis, Family Service Director of Project REACH, at T: 401-848-2470; F: 401-842-0332; or write to Project REACH at Newport Public Schools, 435 Broadway, Newport, RI 02840.

Empowering Families to Move Out of Poverty
A part of the National Association of Community Action Agencies' Family Development Series, this manual leads the reader on an exploration of developmental programming for low-income families. It contains valuable guidance and information related to welfare reform. The manual is geared towards family development staff, and offers them suggestions and tools for working with low-income and at-risk families. The manual is $20 for members of the National Association of Community Action Agencies, and $35 for nonmembers. For more information, contact Monica Brown at T: 202-265-7546 or at http://www.communityactionpartnership.com/.