The Latino Family Literacy Project is a winner for Promising Practices at the 2021 Texas Statewide Parent & Family Engagement Conference.

Our program success begins with an online training for school staff to implement a practical step-by-step curriculum for parent and family engagement. After 20 years of success throughout the United States, we know that parents want to develop new academic and language skills to support their kids. Once the parents feel a connection to the school community that comes with a result of our regular program meetings, they want to continue building on those connections. We hope to see parents and students truly engaged as lifelong learners with skills that will empower them to succeed in life and at any school system of their choice.

Culturally responsive parent engagement is an effective way to integrate the school staff, family culture, and academics. To ensure this is taking place at your school, your staff should be trained in cultural competency in order to provide a transformational parent program for reading, vocabulary, and ESL at your school.

Parents love attending our school-based programs because we use bilingual books in Spanish and English. Spanish-speaking parents can read with their kids in Spanish, and their kids, who are often learning English at a faster rate than their parents, can read in English and practice the new vocabulary offered at the back of each book. Together, they share literature and improve reading skills at home because parents are offered an opportunity to practice reading and build vocabulary in the parent group with other parents, led by trained school staff.

Ultimately, the key to integrating other languages and cultures into the school environment is with the parents. It is through the participation of parents at school that teachers and their students will be able to transform diversity into mutual respect and improve academics with all students.