National Association of Advocating 4 kids

Description of Activities:

1. Parent Education - The parents with have advisors and coaches to help the parents realize that parenting can be positive and rewarding. The staff will visit the parents' homes to play a critical role in the development of the communication channels that allows the parents to become interested in professional assistance and support. The parent education program will provide regularly scheduled opportunities for parent-child interactions as well as other types of education and support. The parents will be taught to develop positive behavior management and to problem-solve within the context of routine family matters and events. The skills training will include managing children in positive ways, child-care options, parent involvement in the school, parent-teacher conferences, and close communications between the staff and the home. The parenting component includes a variety of ways that parents can participate through individual and group activities. This program will also incorporate the Parents and Children Together (PACT) Program. Parenting skills will also be integrated into the curriculum of the adult education component, home visitations, center-based programming, and counseling sessions.

2. Family Readiness - provide developmental activities, computer skills, and literacy programs that will ensure children are ready to learn at five years old, and to prepare parents and children to communicate electronically with the schools and teachers.

1. Home Visitation - Home visitation will be the lifeline of the program. As indicated earlier, the Parent Education Coordinator will conduct the initial visit with the family since she will be trained in techniques of bonding with the family and conducting accurate assessments of the families' needs, problems, and need for linkages with other agencies. All information gathered is confidential. Once the family is determined to be eligible for the Norfolk-Portsmouth Parental Program services, home visitors who are trained to work with high-risk families will visit the family weekly. These individuals will work with the families by providing structured educational activities for the parent and child to perform between visits. These activities are fun and the self-esteem of the parents will be enhanced as they become the "teacher" in the home. Activities include instructional activities and exercises that enhance eye-hand coordination, language skills, logic and reasoning, and therapeutic play activities. Home visitors will also utilize computer technology as a stimulus for children accustomed to watching excessive amounts of television and video games. Computers will be provided to participating families with software for enhancing children's math and reading skills. Parents will apply for a public library card through the home visitors, and home visitors will encourage parents to read to their children after illustrating successful parent-child reading techniques. The Parental Involvement Program staff will provide a list of books that parents can check out and in some cases keep to build their own personal library, stimulate positive self-esteem, and build lifelong readers.

1. Advocacy for Special Education Children - The Special Education Advocacy Program will teach parents about the educational rights of children with special needs. Parents will receive assistance in communicating with special education personnel, medical personnel, and other professionals about the special needs of their children. Parents will receive information, resources, workshops, and one-on-one training about specific learning problems, behavioral problems, and other disabilities, as well as, how these disabilities will impact their family lives. The staff will provide training for parents on how to prepare and participate in their children's educational plan. Parents will include encourage to attend Special Education Advisory Board that interface with Portsmouth, Norfolk and the Virginia State Education Advisory Committee. The board will be a venue for disadvantaged parents to develop relationships with other parents that face the same challengers. The Board members will make public comments to school boards and district special education advisory committees about the needs of the parents and children. They will also prepare and submit an annual report to the local school boards and the Virginia Board of Education with recommendation to address areas of unmet needs. The Board will be composed of representative of stakeholders as prescribed by IDEA.

1. After School Tutoring Program - The after school program, will provide students with one-on-one support from tutors. Students will not only be assisted with improving academics, but will also learn how to improve student-teacher relationships. The focus of the program will be to reinforce phonetic awareness and basic comprehension, provide practice in mathematics computations, social skills and character education, and integration of technology into the school's curriculum.