Parents as Partners

Helping Parents of Young Children with Special Needs to Develop Effective Partnerships with Schools

Parents as Partners Workshop Series

The Parents as Partners workshops series is targeted at families of children with special needs who will be starting Kindergarten or are already enrolled in Kindergarten programs. The workshops:

Help families to plan the transition to school
Provide parents with information on school services in their region
Help parents to develop the skills they need to be effective partners with school staff

The workshops feature various presenters and are designed to be fun and interactive. Parents are provided tips on keeping records, making phone calls and attending meetings about their child. There are also be hands-on activities which help parents prepare for school meetings and provide the opportunity to meet with other parents and share experiences.

This project includes families of children who are receiving services from various Early Years programs, including Preschool Speech and Language Services, Infant Hearing Screening Program, Early Intervention Services, the Association for Community Living and many others. Many of the sessions are also be helpful to families of children who are already enrolled in JK and SK and need special education programs and services.

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History

Parents as Partners began as a project championed and successfully proposed to the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services to be run as a 3-year project under the Ontario Early Years Challenge Fund in September 2004.

Alison Morse and Rhonda Jacobson, both parents of children with disabilities and active members of community groups, felt strongly about the gaps in resources and information for families of children with special needs who were entering the school system.

Together, they put together a proposal to the Ontario Early Years Challenge Fund to develop and present the Parents as Partners workshop series in York Region and Oxford County, sponsored by the Ontario Association for Families of Communication Disorders (OAFCCD) and Expressive Communication Help Organization (ECHO) in their respective communities. They received funding for the project for 3 years.

These programs were incredibly successful, often filling sessions and attracting families from other Ontario locations. So Alison and Rhonda decided to write a funding proposal to the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF), to try and get the project to as many communities in Ontario as possible.

The funding proposal to OTF was successful, and in November 2006, the OAFCCD Parents as Partners program was launched to develop and deliver the workshops in an additional 18 communities in Ontario. (see our Media Releases)

Alison and Rhonda continue to be active in the implementation of the OAFCCD Parents as Partners project, along with Community Facilitators Sally Facchini and Jacqueline Dorrsers.

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What is OAFCCD Parents as Partners?

OAFCCD Parents as Partners offers a series of up to six different workshops to communities. These parent workshops are designed to help families of children with special needs make a smooth transition from preschool programs to Junior or Senior Kindergarten.

The workshops feature information on school and community services, and fun activities that will help parents prepare for an effective partnership with school staff.

Workshop One:
Getting Ready for School: Planning for Kindergarten

This workshop is for families who are thinking of registering their child for school in September. The workshop provides information on when to start the process and what will be involved. The workshop activities will help parents to organize information about their child, and get ready for the meetings where they will be talking about your child.

Workshop Two:
Strategies for Effective Partnerships: Communicating for Success

This workshop is for any parent of a child with special needs who is attending school or getting ready to start school. The workshop provides some great tips and strategies to help develop positive relationships with school staff. The fun activities will help to improve negotiation and problem solving skills.

Workshop Three:
The Kindergarten Program: Supporting Students with Special Needs

This workshop provides parents with information about the Kindergarten program and the daily activities of a Junior Kindergarten (JK) or Senior Kindergarten (SK) classroom. Parent’s will meet a Kindergarten Teacher and find out how the teacher adjusts the activities to meet the individual needs of all the children. Parents will also learn how the teacher determines the need for special education programs and services.

Workshop Four:
Special Education: Understanding the Process and the Parent Role

This workshop provides parents with an introduction to special education in Ontario schools. Parents will learn some of the special education language “jargon” used by Teachers and Principals and how the school system supports students with special education needs. Workshop activities will help parents to understand their rights in special education and their role in working with the school to support their child’s needs.

Workshop Five, Part 1:
The Individual Education Plan (IEP):Introduction to the IEP and Parent Role

The Individual Education Plan (IEP) is the most important document for students with special education needs. This workshop provides information about the purpose of the IEP and the process for development and review of the IEP. Workshop activities will help parents to understand how the IEP helps students and how they can support the school in the development and monitoring of the IEP.

Workshop Five, Part 2:
The Individual Education Plan: Developing Effective IEPs for Student Success

This workshop looks at the content of the Individual Education Plan (IEP) in more detail and helps parents to understand the language and terminology used in the IEP. Parents will also learn how to share information about their child to support the IEP development and improve student achievement at school.

Who Should Attend The Workshops?

Parents can attend individual workshops or the whole series. The series is intended for parents of children with special needs who are likely to need special education programs and services at school. The workshop series will support the growth of parent knowledge and skills over the period of time from when they start planning for their child to attend school until the child is entering first grade.

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If you are interested in bringing Parents as Partners to your community please contact
Alison Morse at OAFCCD