As a Parent Educator at Wellstone Elementary School in St. Paul, Minnesota, I’m working on a project that entails writing a curriculum for parents. The goal of my work is to increase parental involvement, which research shows helps increase school attendance and student achievement.

Family dynamics
A family’s situation is always changing, and the ways schools are looking at parent involvement is changing too. Schools work to encourage families to maximize their involvement in their children’s education. We do this not by setting the “involvement bar” high and insisting that these families jump to this standard, but by welcoming them in, whatever their circumstances, and sup¬porting them by providing a variety of opportunities for their involvement.

Family Night
One of the ways we help Wellstone families to be more involved is through hosting a series of Family Nights. This year’s first Family Night was built around the topic “How to Talk So Kids Can Learn.” Facilitator Lisa Boland Blake from Origins led a discussion about specific talking strategies from the book How To Talk So Kids Can Learn, by Adele Faber. We also gave each family a copy of the book, served dinner (pizza), provided free childcare, and gave out bus tokens. We had an amazing turnout! There were roughly 100 parents and 150 kids. We had Hmong, Somali, Latino, African-American, and White families in attendance. Hearing the different languages spoken at dinner tables added to the festive, inclusive feeling that evening.

Here’s what two families had to say about the event:

Dear Wellstone Elementary Staff,
Thank you for hosting Family Night and discussing “How to Talk so Kids Can Learn.” I, unfortunately, found myself closely aligning with the description of how not to talk to your child and was thankful the presenter warned us this would happen. The skills we learned that evening were clearly taught and easy to implement. On the way home, my child asked why she always needed to watch TV downstairs rather than upstairs in the living room. This is a conversation we have had before that always ended with my daughter upset. This time I used the techniques learned and discovered she doesn’t like the chairs and thinks it is cold. We have turned up the heat and are having her pick out a bean bag chair. She was able to look online that night for a bean bag chair, which was half the fun for her. Since that night I have continued to use the techniques and I’m currently reading the book. I made use of the comic section for some quick solutions. Thank you for this opportunity and I look forward to more Family Nights!
Sincerely, Julia
1st grade parent


I think the event was great with the right information for my family to use.
—Francisco, 4th grade parent

A great community event
The support of the staff at Wellstone made the evening possible for parents, and a private grant covered the purchase of the books. Principal Christine Osorio, classroom teachers, aides, the family liaison, interpreters, specialists, the social worker, the accountant, the school secretary, volunteers, and other support staff all helped bring parents together for one common purpose; the result was a successful and memorable Family Night.

We are considering inviting the parents to read the book and return to discuss some of its ideas at a Family Night in the near future.

Expect great things,
This is my 9th year teaching, and I’ve only recently begun to learn to expect great things from parents and to give them credit for all that they do for their children. Wellstone families want to help their children succeed in school, and they are my motivation to continue to help make that possible.

Mi Yang is a Parent Educator at Wellstone Elementary School in St. Paul MN.

This article first appeared in Origins: A Newsletter for Elementary Educators, Winter 2009