Activities/Events to Promote Family Involvement, Literacy, and Learning

Step One: Contact community stakeholders invested in the well-being of families.

Local Businesses

• newspaper, radio, and TV/cable stations

• grocery stores

• children's toys, clothing, and book stores

• movie theaters and playhouses

• physical fitness facilities

• retail stores

• restaurants

Local Education Groups

• schools, school councils, and school committees

• adult basic education programs

• parent education and support programs

• Head Start programs and other early care and education programs

• colleges and universities

• libraries

• museums

• PTO groups

• community councils

Community Based Organizations

• local YMCA/YWCA, United Way, Salvation Army, Red Cross, etc.

• civic groups (Kiwanis, Chamber of Commerce, etc.)

• shelters

• parks and recreation departments

• ethnic organizations

• faith-based organizations

• elderly housing facilities and senior citizen centers

• hospitals and clinics

• local community centers

Community Members

• parents

• local TV and radio celebrities

• local store/business owners, CEO's of local industries

• local and state government leaders

• local school officials

• community leaders

• police, firefighters

• local education providers

Step Two: Develop a plan for engaging your community in activities that support family learning.

Suggested Activities for Local Schools, Community Organizations, Community Leaders, Businesses, etc.

• Provide "Family Nights" where parents and children learn together

• Coordinate a "Read-a-Thon"

• Issue a proclamation of your community's "Family Literacy Month"

• Invite local authors to share their experience as authors

• Encourage families to do oral story telling and reflect on these stories in writing or in drawings

• Promote events for families of diverse cultural backgrounds, i.e., an international pot-luck dinner

• Invite local celebrities and community members into classrooms to read to children

• Offer opportunities for children to create songs, poems, plays, and art work about their families

• Promote literacy activities by donating or offering discounts on book marks, books, newspapers, art and science supplies, etc.

• Provide opportunities for inter-generational activities, i.e., storytelling at an elderly housing facility

Suggested Activities for Families

• Set aside time each day for literacy related activities, i.e., reading for 20 to 30 minutes

• When you watch a video or movie, read the book version and discuss the story

• Share and discuss current news, sports, cultural, or school events

• Host a reading, science, art, dance, or music activity at your home and ask neighbors to take turns as hosts

• Create family portfolios reflecting pictures, stories, poems, and drawings with captions

• Support schools in coordinating family literacy/learning hours before and/or after school

• Develop a family action plan for wellness, i.e., nutrition, stress management, exercise, etc.

• Make regular visits to the library

• Use everyday activities to incorporate literacy, i.e., develop shopping lists, read signs and labels at the grocery store, count money, measure and read recipes when cooking, count and read street signs when traveling, etc.

Last Updated: February 6, 2013