Parent & Family Resources

Parents Are Vital!

Including parents as partners in their child's education has been proven to have a powerful impact on student achievement. Reaching out to parents of ELLs is especially important, since families who are new to the country may not be familiar with how schools in the US function and what their role in the school should be. Communication with parents of ELLs can be challenging due to language barriers, cultural differences, and long work hours of some parents, but the rewards can be great. 

 

Below you will find links to free bilingual resources to help you make meaningful contact with the parents of your English language learners. These handouts are intended to be copied and shared, so if you've been wanting to reach out more to ELL parents, this is a great place to start!

Vecinos Unidos Family Literacy

Nazareth College Vecinos Unidos & Mid-West RBERN Present...
Vecinos Unidos Family Literacy Flyer

Translated Resources

This spreadsheet contains some of the resources that Mid-West RBERN likes to have on hand for multilingual families including NYSED translated documents, resources on graduation requirements, and tips for learning at home. Click here to access the resource spreadsheet. 
Do you know of any other translated resources for families that we could add to this list?
Let us know at [email protected]

Latino Family Literacy Project

Free Bilingual Resources

1-800-469-8224
It is critical to have an informed, empowered community of parents and families to ensure that English Language Learners (ELLs) are well served.

This Hotline was created to provide parents, guardians and other persons in parental relation of ELLs with information about their rights and services for their children pursuant to Commissioner’s Regulation 154. It also provides a mechanism to respond to specific inquiries about the delivery of these services. The hotline is available in 10 different languages.

The New York State Education Department's Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages (OBEWL) has created an English Language Learner Parents' Bill of Rights which summarizes critical rights concerning educational access and programming for ELLs and their parents. It is available in 27 different languages.

Home is Your Child's First Classroom


ENGLISH
CHINESE
SPANISH

Your home is your child's first classroom and there are many simple and free activities that families can do
with their children to foster their learning. Created by the New York State RBERNs for the Office of Bilingual Education & World Languages, the Fun Home Learning resource is available in 11 languages.

Image of Fun Home Learning document

Webinars for Families of ELLs

Created by the New York State RBERNs for OBEWL, this webinar series was created to empower families to foster learning at home. Available in English and Spanish, these webinars were designed to accompany the Fun Home Learning Resource Page for Families.

Community-based Organizations for Immigrants

The New York State Education Department's Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages (OBEWL) has created A Guide to Community-Based Organizations for Immigrants which provides a list of organizations throughout New York State. 

Parent Guides to the NYSITELL and NYSESLAT

English Language Learners in New York State take two different tests. These guides, translated into 22 different languages will help families understand the difference between the two, the purpose for taking the test, and how to interpret the scores. 

Related Links

Family Math Road Map
Resources for families to bring daily math conversations and activities into their homes. Information available in English and Spanish.

National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement
Organization with the mission of advancing high-impact policies and practices for families, schools, and community engagement that promotes child development and improve student achievement .

Reading Tip Sheets for Parents of Elementary-Aged Children  
Tip sheets available in English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Korean, Navajo, Russian, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.

Reading Rockets Family Guide and Other Printable Resources 
Family Guide available in English, Spanish, Somali, and Hmong. All other guides on this page are available in English and Spanish only.

Starting a new school district can be difficult, especially newcomer immigrant and refugee families and their families. These guides are available in four languages. 

A document collaboratively created by teachers and hosted by ESL_fairy to help parents/guardians understand how words in different languages are broken down into sounds. Available in 12 languages.