PARENT RESOURCES

2012-13 Parent Handbook.pdf

After School Programs & Events

• LAP Family Night – This annual event is a great opportunity for parents to meet their student’s LAP teachers, ask questions about classroom expectations and program goals, access community agencies to obtain free resources and come together to celebrate the diversity of our families in Wayne. In addition, each student is offered a free book to encourage reading in the home.
  
  
• LAP Broad Based Committee – This committee is made up of ELs staff, Administrators, General Ed. Teachers and LAP Parents. It meets to discuss LAP programming modifications that would benefit students and comply with state and federal guidelines. If you are interested in participating in this committee, please contact the LAP Office at 988-8653. We welcome your comments and recommendations.
  
  
• Parent Workshops – The Language Assistance Program will host a workshop, in collaboration with the Indiana Partnership Center. This workshop will provide parents with ideas on how to create a learning environment in their home. Each parent will receive materials with extra activities for them to work with their students--Leamos Juntos/ Books on Board – Bilingual workshop
  
  
• Parent Handbook – This is a special handbook for parents of children in the Language Assistance Program (LAP) in the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township. The Handbook includes information about program expectations and how our school personnel support your child’s learning. 

Elementary

• Project FLUENT – Family Literacy: Understanding English for Newcomers Together – A ten week program for parents and students (K-6) that meets once a week after school from 6:30 to 8:00 pm.  (Feb. to Apr.) This program is conducted at two different schools concurrently once a week for ten weeks. The program curriculum is designed to work with parents and students. Parents review strategies to support their student's learning at home, while students focus on a target literacy skill for extended practice.  At the conclusion of each class all participants are invited to have some light refreshments and check out resources from our Lending Library. In addition, all participants receive a free book to take home – parents receive information on how to work with their students at home and students select from a variety of fiction and non-fiction materials.  
  
  
• Take-home kits and Lending Library – Each program site has a set of take-home kits, bilingual books, leap pads and other wonderful resources for students K-6 to check-out and take home to practice their reading skills. A kit typically comes in a bag and contains a book, parent activity sheet and audio cassette. This is an excellent way for parents to work with their students. You can play the cassette and have your student follow along in the book.  Then you can ask your student questions from the activity sheet. This is just one of the many ways you can help your child become a better reader. For additional suggestions on what you can do at home to support your student’s learning, contact your LAP teacher.

Secondary

• META – Mapping Education Towards Achievement is a one-day education and career workshop for Hispanic high school students. The day brings together Hispanic students and professionals to talk about educational, training, and career opportunities for Hispanic youth.
  
  
• Tu Futuro/ Your Future – The Tu Futuro Project is an initiative to inspire and educate Latinos about higher education and to increase Latino enrollment to institutions of higher learning. 
  
  
• Lending Library – Each program site has a set of Lending Library materials for students to check-out and take home to practice their reading skills. These materials can be fiction or non-fiction books. Several of the titles come with an audio cassette to offer the student support as they work on both their reading fluency and language acquisition. This is an excellent opportunity for parents to work with their students. Your students can play the cassette and follow along in the book. Then you can discuss the book with your student. This is just one of the many ways you can help your child become a better reader. For additional suggestions on what you can do at home to support your student’s learning, contact your ELs teacher or the LAP Office at 317-988-8653.

Web Links/Resources

• National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education: www.ncpie.org
• National Education Association: www.nea.org
• Education World: www.education-world.com
• Colorin Colorado: www.colorincolorado.org
• Family Education Network: http://www.familyeducation.com/home/
• Figure This! Math Challenges for Families of Middle Schoolers: http://www.figurethis.org/
• The Indiana Center for Family, School and Community Partnerships: http://www.fscp.org/
• National Campaign for Public School Improvement:
                         A Checklist For An Effective Parent-School Partnership:
                         http://www.projectappleseed.org/chklst.html
• U.S. Department of Education:
                        Parent resources in English and Spanish:
                        http://www.ed.gov/parents/landing.jhtml?src=pn
• U.S. Department of Education:
                        Recursos en Español (Education Resources in Spanish):
                        http://www.ed.gov/espanol/bienvenidos/es/index.html
• PBS Parents: Website in English: http://www.pbs.org/parents/
                         Website in Spanish: http://www.pbs.org/parents/readinglanguage/Spanish/