Parents have a tremendous influence in the academic success of their children. Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) is launching a new education initiative providing parents with tools and strategies to help families learn together at home.
The Parents Are Teachers Too (PATT) initiative will launch at the end of February. In each community, current teachers, retired teachers, librarians, college instructors and other educators will serve as MPB PATT facilitators for the program. They will lead participating parents in six one-hour sessions.
The sessions include open discussions on various topics, fun hands-on activities, tips and strategies to use in the home to extend what their child is learning in school, ways to make reading fun, and suggestions for family activities. PATT provides parents with tools and resources to create an atmosphere of families learning together. The goal is to encourage and empower parents to be more engaged and work confidently with their children.
MPB is piloting this family educational initiative in the following Mississippi counties: Claiborne, Coahoma, Copiah, DeSoto, Hancock, Hinds, Holmes, Humphreys, Jones, Lafayette, Lee, Leake, Madison, Oktibbeha, Pike, Sunflower, Warren, Washington, Winston and Yazoo.
There is no charge for families to participate. Space is limited. Parents/guardians can contact the facilitator in the county nearest them to get detailed information on time, date and location of the local program. Contact information for PATT facilitators in each county can be found on Facebook - @MPB Education.
“As a result of MPB’s long-time involvement in early childhood programs and family engagement activities, PATT was developed to help close the gaps between parent-child and parent-teacher relationships,” said Shelia Brown Robinson, MPB’s Early Childhood Director.
“MPB educators have watched how many of the parent-child relationships advance and witnessed children’s grades improve because of the parents’ participation in the school and home. We listened to the needs and concerns of the parents participating at our events. Also, we heard teachers and other school administrators declare that parents need to be more involved,” said Robinson.
PATT is sponsored in part by these generous sponsors — Donna and Jim Barksdale, Sheryl and Jay Davidson, Martha and Henry Hederman Charitable Foundation and Origin Bank.
MPB’s Early Childhood Division is dedicated to providing best-practice resources to parents, teachers and community advocates for children birth to twelve years old. By using the trusted PBS KIDS platform, the MPB broadcast network and early literacy initiatives, MPB educators provide quality services across Mississippi. Our literacy goals and objectives lead the pathway into the communities as we are on a mission to encourage families to learn together. We approach each outreach opportunity with the hope of introducing the power of MPB and PBS programs, information and services.
MPB’s Early Childhood team provides books to build home libraries and offer families extended activities. Parents are the child’s most important first teacher and teachers are the parent’s best partner. Creating and nurturing these relationships ensure all children receive quality education and positive school experiences. Inspired by those we have impacted, the MPB Early Childhood team continues to do more boots-on-the-ground-work in early childhood education. The ultimate goal is to support families by building programs that are encouraging and engaging for the entire family.