WQLN, public media for Erie, Pennsylvania, offers WQLN Families Turn on to Literacy, an innovative literacy workshop series that emphasizes the involvement of the entire family in a child’s education.This four-week program brings parents and children together once a week for an interactive learning experience that includes reading, hands-on activities and educational television programming.
Week 1 – The Learning Process and Foundational Reading Skills
Week 2 – Vocabulary Development and Comprehension
Week 3 – The Reading/Writing Connection
Week 4 – Developing Fluency and Higher-Order Thinking
WQLN Families Turn on to Literacy provides an opportunity for public television to connect families to educational opportunities, resources, social networks and services all while reaching out to children of varying backgrounds in an exciting way.
This program works to empower families to make changes necessary to improve the education of their children and helps to form positive relationships between children, parents, educators and community partners. More importantly, it provides activities and tips for parents to learn how to work with their child to develop early literacy skills and concepts, and rewards them when they complete the entire workshop series.
The Wayne/Grayson family reported that the program has helped their daughter with reading fluency, comprehension and sequencing. The McNaughton family explained how the program provides an excellent activity for them to do together as a family. See how the program has helped Norma Santiago and Aeden Figueroa below.
WQLN Families Turn on to Literacy extends their educational outreach through a series of workshops conducted in childcare centers, schools and community centers. The programs include four series of workshops:
- The Traditional Literacy series supplies parents with information about child development, emphasizing the importance of how kids learn, phonemic awareness, phonics and decoding, vocabulary and word recognition, comprehension, the writing process, fluency and higher-order thinking.
- The Social & Emotional Literacy (SEL) series helps children and adults develop the skills, attitudes and values necessary to acquire competence in the SEL skill areas of self-awareness, self-regulation, social skills and relationships and social awareness (showing empathy and perspective-taking).
- The Nutritional Literacy series introduces families to healthy eating habits, the importance of exercise, ways to stay healthy with proper hand-washing and germ control, and suggestions for increased physical activity. In addition, families learn to identify popular advertising techniques used to sell food.
- Financial Literacy offers a basis for the responsible use of money and credit. Participants learn to make informed financial decisions that can affect their families and their future.
Visit the WQLN Families Turn on to Literacy website for more information.