On Oct. 6, parents were invited to a kindergarten parent workshop on literacy concepts at George Wolf Elementary School, Bath. The workshop was designed by George Wolf’s kindergarten teachers and was the first of a new series of workshops. Approximately 50 parents attended the morning event.

Parents walked into their child’s kindergarten classrooms to see teachers modeling literacy methods for parents to use to assist their children at home.

Students in Jessica Quiñones’ kindergarten class demonstrated their letter/sound chant for parents, then listened to a story and showed parents how they can answer hard questions about the story.

Each parent was given a folder with literacy resources. The folder included a kindergarten sight words sheet, a comprehension wheel, a game for working on syllables, a sound bingo and short vowel word puzzles. In addition, there was also an ABC letters and sounds roll and read game and CVC word center game that included word builder cards.

From classroom to classroom, Jeanette Gilliland, Northampton Area School District assistant superintendent, did her rounds visiting the four kindergarten parent workshops.

“This is a great program,” Gilliland said, “particularly since it brings parents, teachers and students together. This involvement with the whole family is important.”

A former kindergarten teacher herself, Gilliland added, “Kindergarten is intensive, and there’s a lot of information to learn.”

Joel Cruz, a parent in the workshop, said, “This is good to practice with my daughter. She has a hard time reading. She is good in math.”

Later, Cruz added the literacy workshop convinced him to put his son in a Headstart program prior to kindergarten.

Another parent, Jeanette Sommons, suggested having audio availability to hear the pronunciation of sounds to teach her child. Sommons suggested the school have a private audio channel via YouTube or a teacher’s webpage.

Parent Megan Sauerzopf said the event was “awesome.”

Nicolette Teles, K-12 reading and writing supervisor for NASD, said, “The intimate interactions between the parents and students learning together were incredible, and it was great to see teachers provide parents with resources, tips and strategies they could reinforce with their children at home. I am really looking forward to seeing how George Wolf Elementary will continue to make invaluable connections between students, educators and parents.

“As a parent and educator, I appreciate these unique and impressionable learning opportunities that support the foundational building blocks of a child’s educational career,” Teles said.

The kindergarten workshop provided literacy resources and the opportunity for parents to work together with their child’s teachers. The session lasted a little over an hour. A second part of the series of workshops is in the works, which will focus on math concepts.