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Family Guidebook Template- Updated!

06 November 2013 09:12 AM

Y4Y Facilitator Newbie
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Joined 2014-06-05

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The Family Guidebook Template is a starting point for any afterschool program to develop a family guidebook that can be shared with students’ parents, family members, and other caregivers as an important resource.

This template provides suggestions, in an outline form, of possible components to include in your program’s family guidebook. It was developed with the input of 25 afterschool practitioners and leaders from around the United States who participated in Y4Y’s October 2013 Coffee Break webinar. These practitioners and leaders worked together with the Y4Y Team to customize the Creating a Family Guidebook tool from Y4Y. They provided guidance based on their own family guidebooks, their program experiences, and their family involvement strategies.

Please note that the contents of this template are suggestions, not requirements, for developing a family guidebook. Y4Y recommends that each program choose which elements to include or leave out, according to the needs and characteristics of the program, its students, and their families.

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06 November 2013 11:17 AM #1

SallyW Newbie
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This is a very helpful template. You might want to be sure and include a welcoming statement for families in the introduction. Research shows that a welcoming environment is part of an effect family engagement strategy. As a program director and staff it is important to remember that it is not a waste of effort to make sure that families feel welcome, even if they never come. You may want to look at it as a part of your positive reputation, “I know if I went, they would welcome me.”

Another idea is to include in your opportunities to help section ideas for ways that families can support their child’s learning at home. Research tells us that one of the most influential things a family member can do to encourage positive academic outcomes is to have high expectations for their children and to provide home support for their child’s learning. Ideas for this might include sample questions that family members can ask the child to show interest and support for education success and activities they can do to reinforce OST and classroom learning. For example, a parent might have the child teach them how to do a homework assignment or they might review the homework in the car or public transportation on the way home.

21st CCLC programs can receive more ideas on family engagement by contacting their regional Family Engagement Resouce Provider.

Sally M. Wade, Ed.D.
Family Engagement Resource Provider (FERP) Project
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