Parent Engagement: Jewish Coalition for Literacy, CA

VISTA Member: Josh Ing 
Program: Jewish Coalition for Literacy, San Francisco, CA

I attended 4 parent programs in November at various elementary in the East Bay. There were 2 different parent programs being offered in November: 1) Let’s Read At Home and 2) Let’s Read In English. The first program encourages parents to read at home to their kids. The program goes over things like how to choose books that are not too easy or challenging. Parents are also encouraged to read to their children in any language, whether it be in English, Spanish, Chinese, etc. While children benefit from learning new words when they read in English, reading books in a different language can build up reasoning and comprehension. These skills translate across languages, so a child who is read to benefits regardless of the language used. The second parent program is called “Let’s Read in English” and is done in Spanish. California has a large population of English language learners who speak primarily Spanish at home. This program helps teach parents who speak primarily Spanish to read English books with their young children. The goal is not to teach the parents to read English fluently, but to reinforce the idea that they are capable of reading with their children.