Family Workshops

Family Literacy

Family literacy refers to the day-to-day activities in which literacy is passed from one generation to the next – from parent, grandparent, uncle or big sister to a child. To build upon the success of family school connections, Learning Leaders has designed programs to give parents additional support so they can be their children's partners in learning.

Write from the Start

Write from the Start is geared towards parents of children in grades 3-7. This workshop is designed to help parents help their children strengthen their writing skills. Participants will learn how to help their children with brainstorming, structured writing, and the writing process. In addition, they will focus on creative writing through a variety of activities, specifically making and writing personal journals.

Hey, We're Reading!

In this program, Learning Leaders staff teaches parents read aloud and question techniques to help engage their pre-school and kindergarten children in reading. Staff promote literacy activities at home which engage the entire family.

Alphabet Soup

Alphabet Soup teaches parents and other volunteers how to use story-telling, book-making and other enjoyable family literacy activities to increase children’s interest in reading and writing. Parents of children in the early grades learn how to choose, use and make books; how to convert everyday home activities into learning experiences; and how to stimulate children’s critical thinking, retelling ability and capacity to write creatively.

We All Count

We All Count is geared towards parents of elementary school children. Parents will participate in various interactive activities to learn more about early childhood math concepts such as matching/sorting, patterns, the basic math operations, etc. The goal of the workshop is to help parents feel comfortable with these concepts and be able to help and support their child at home.

Participants in the workshops receive the Helping Hand Book or We All Count. These Learning Leaders publications are full of useful tools and techniques that parents can use to support learning at home and at school.

Middle School Initiative

In addition to the core tutorial program, the Learning Leaders Middle School Initiative offers workshop opportunities to parents designed to help them understand adolescence and effectively parent teenagers. Please visit the middle school opportunities page to learn more.

High School Transition

Learning Leaders offers the High School Transition workshop, designed to help parents and students make sense of the complex transition to high school. Please visit the high school opportunities page to learn more.

Our Impact

Teachers report that, of students who received volunteer help last year,

  • 96% improved in school work
  • 92% improved in self-confidence
  • 89% became more intested in school
  • 27% no longer need extra assistance

Many volunteers, particularly parents, report that giving instructional help to children expands their own educational and career goals.