Family Learning

We take 'family' to mean the diverse forms of kinship relationships that exist as well as the broader, caring and friendship networks that people share and learn from throught the various stages of life.

Family learning is learning which takes place between family members and might involve any of the following:

  • Informal and formal learning within the family.
  • Family members learning together.
  • Learning about roles, relationships and responsibilities in relation to stages of family life - including parenting education.
  • Learning how to understand, take responsibility and make decisions in relation to the wider society in which the family is the foundation for good citizenship.
  • Learning how to deal with agencies that serve families.

Statistics show that that children who have benefited from family involvement in the learning process are less likely to truant at school, that they will have increased concentration levels and improved examination results. But exams are not the most important criteria for judging success. Family learning would seem to demonstrate that its most valuable role is extending the horizons for young people and their families to reach.

The task of teaching, training and enabling young people and the family unit to learn becomes a shared community responsibility. The word 'family' can encompass parents, extended family members, carers, guardians, or even interested family members.

Family Learning works on the principle that these people are the first and prime educators in the lives of young people. By making learning together fun for all members of the family, it is hoped that a culture of lifelong learning can be developed.

We know that between birth and leaving statutory education, young people spend less than 15% of their waking hours in school and that nearly 60% of people having achieved 'adulthood' believe 'home' is the place where they learn 'best.'

Schools fall well down the list. This must tell us something about our attitudes to learning and highlight the need to strengthen the links between home and school and develop still further a partnership approach that actively engages parents in helping their children learn effectively with enjoyment.

The key challenges are:

To give our children the confidence to learn and to succeed

To make the link between activities and the home

To build strong links between families and providers within the community

And above all … To involve young people and their family unit - to give them a say in their activities and how they evolve, to ensure that they remain imaginative, exciting and challenging.

We must develop our family learning initiatives as the cornerstones that bring families and practitioners together in order to support and promote each other's work.

The following programmes have been delivered by our accredited family learning trainers and are about raising standards.  The key objective is to empower adults and children to learn together so that all members of the family can reach their full potential.

 

Family Learning Works!

Introduction to intergenerational learning.  In this module you will consider recruiting ‘hard to reach’ parents, barriers to learning and group methodology – the art of getting a group talk, and work together.

 

SHARE Parent and School Initiative

The Share School and Parent initiative for learning between the generations is a national scheme in over fifty education UK authorities.  It is designed to reach parents who want to help their child’s learning at home but do not know the best ways in which to go about it.

 

Storybook Weaver

A family learning programme for parents using specially designed software to produce high quality books with and for their children.  The work underpins the Skills for Life agenda and is mapped to the Adult Core Literacy Curriculum.  The programme helps school meet many of the new inspection requirements around Promoting Parents Partnerships and Engaging the Local Community.

 

It’s A Man Thing!

Designed for men, to help them enjoy reading books together with their children at home and in other settings.

 

Golden Goal

A parenting initiative enabling youngsters to engage in learning activities using the theme of football.  Train to design and use a number of football-related activities with families and young people.  Package includes: First team fixture, football coaching session Walsall Football Club with professional staff, stadium tour, certificate and autograph sheet for each child; and an autographed football for your school!

 

Bags of Stories - Storybag Solutions

Bags of stories and learning activities are a popular, non- threatening way of encouraging parents and carers to start sharing stories and fun learning activities with their children.

 

All training programmes can be modified to suit the needs of your organisation and the community you serve.  We can deliver the sessions at your location or provide a suitable venue in your area.  Please contact us for further details.

 

Contact: Barbara Bennett           

Telephone: 07703 741218

Fax: 01543 683418

Email: Learning Beyond

 

Discuss

[ Print This Page ]   [ Email This Page ]