Your Child your Community

This café conversation is designed to help parents explore their potential role and the benefits of being engaged in the extended school community by:

• guiding parents to explore their role in a school system that may be new to them and different from their own experience.
• helping parents recognize the ways they can make a difference in supporting their learning community.
• helping parents explore their school community through an appreciative or strength-based lens.
• identifying potential strategies for being involved and connecting at the community level in support of learning.

Parent leaders and educators will find a thought provoking question to inspire parent conversation, followed by discussion points that can be used to add to and further stimulate the conversation. It is Cafe’s experience that together most parents, given the opportunity, will raise many of the suggested discussion points. In this way the capacity of the group is built, while highlighting collective wisdom. The questions have been designed to lead from one to another but remember this is meant only as a guide to conversation. All of the questions may not be needed to reach the goals of the conversation and your conversation may naturally follow a different path.

For facilitators leading a conversation Café,  the conversation guide below is presented in a Power Point, 2 slides/page format, that permits easy reference between questions and suggested discussion points.

Your child your community 2013

The following set of notes provides additional information for facilitators leading the Café, or parents wishing to delve further into the topic. Each page of information corresponds to one question from the conversation guide.

Your Child – Your Community facilitator guide coming soon!

Your Child – Your Community:  Accompanying Resources

These suggested quality resources are a starting point to guide parents in making connections with schools and community organizations and institutions working to provide support for learning. Resources are organized in the order they appear and are suggested throughout the conversation notes.  Café graciously accepts suggestions of additional quality resources focusing on the parent-school partnership.  Do you have a resource to share?

Your Child – Your Community – Resources coming soon!