Family Reading Workshops

The STAIR program benefits both the child and the family. As part of its continuing series of family reading workshops, STAIR partnered with parent educators from Children’s Hospital’s Parenting Center to provide workshops at 8 STAIR sites during the 2007-08 school year. This year’s workshop theme was “Bringing Out the Best: Encouraging Your Child’s Positive Behavior.” The discussion with parents, family members and STAIR tutors covered such topics as promoting your child’s inner strength and self-esteem, encouraging positive behavior, and building relationships as the cornerstone to strong and responsible parenting.

Nearly 125 children, including STAIR students, siblings and children attending afterschool programs at schools and 100 parents, family members, tutors and volunteers, participated in the Family Reading Workshops held at these STAIR sites during the school year:  Carrollton Church of Christ, Berean Presbyterian Church, Jefferson Presbyterian Church, Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church, Holy Angels Convent, Faith Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Lafayette Academy and St. Paul’s United Methodist Church.

The program began with a shared reading of a book related to the workshop theme, Mean Soup by Betsy Everitt. Then, while the adults attended the parenting session, the children were entertained by special visitors, including the Reading to Rover program, the New Orleans Hornets Bookmobile and Radio Disney, depending on the site.  At the conclusion of the program, STAIR and The Parenting Center provided children and family members with take home materials, including new books and literacy resources.

As part of its Family Reading Workshop series, various STAIR sites will provide literacy bags ( Reading is My Bag) that focus on a variety of themes that encourage children to read. Each literacy bag will include books, writing journal, supplies and other materials related to that theme.  Each child at the STAIR site will have a chance to take the bag home, use it for one week, and then return it to the STAIR site so that another child can use it.

In an effort to expand its family literacy programming, STAIR is working with a number of its participating elementary schools to help them plan and implement Family Literacy Nights during the 2008-09 school year.