Strengthening FamiliesInformation about Train-the-

Trainer

Roger Sherman—Idaho Children’s Trust FundMaureen Durning—Idaho AEYC/

Strengthening Families Training Coordinator

Strengthening FamiliesTrain the Trainer Informational Webinar

Today we will cover:

•How these trainings came about

•Training Content •Training Design•Testimonials from participants, parents, and trainers

•Sales/Contact information

How these trainings began…

Idaho’s inclusion in the Early Childhood Initiative allowed us to include Strengthening Families as a part of our Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) in order to:

• Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect • Improve the Quality of Child Care• Encourage/Measure Parent

Involvement and Leadership

A little background…

2003-2006 University of Idaho and Idaho AEYC gets state contract

to strengthen the Professional Development System and QRIS as an integrated piece for improvement of child care quality in Idaho

2007: • Idaho AEYC & Idaho Children’s Trust Fund created a

training • We recruited and trained 7 trainers• We tested the training with 22 pilot sites• The training was reviewed by a variety of professionals

and evaluated by the trainers and the participants• The training was re-designed and expanded based on

this input

Idaho Context

• Weak Licensing system

• Supportive Bureaucracy

• Unsupportive Governor and Legislature

• “How can we keep moms at home?”

Where we are now…

2008:• Train-the-trainer event--to train on the

newly revised and expanded trainings • 16 certified (through IdahoSTARS) SF

trainers• Trainings delivered to 30 new sites• Strengthening Families is embedded into

the Quality Rating and Improvement System

IdahoSTARS QRIS

Where we are going…

2009:

• The QRIS will be open to all child care facilities

• Strengthening Families trainings and implementation will continue to be an important part of the QRIS

Our Butterfly Theme…

Strengthening Families trainings change lives…

The trainings

The Training Content:

Total—17 hours • Module 1--three hour overviewModules 2-8—two hour trainings based on the 7 strategies:• 2—Value and Support parents• 3—Facilitate Friendships and Mutual Support• 4—Facilitate Children’s Social and Emotional Development• 5—Strengthen Parenting• 6—Link Families to Services and Opportunities• 7—Respond to Family Crises• 8—Observe and Respond to Early Warning Signs of Child

abuse and Neglect

The Training Participants:

Child care providers—center or home

Any sized group

Training for TrainersTrain-the-Trainer event includes:

• 16 hours of training in 2 days• Learn pedagogy: Training in the training design—

Experiential Learning Cycle• Experience content through presentation and group

reflection• Grounding in the research: Strengthening Families

through Early Care and Education• Background information on Child Abuse and Neglect

prevention and reporting strategies• Demonstration of the Overview Module• Hands-on practice • Follow-up consultation

The training design:

Variety!• Hands-on activities

• Facilitated discussion

• Individual worksheets

• Working in pairs and groups

• Interactive and Experiential

• Practical and immediately applicable to the everyday work of the child care providers

How do adults learn?

In many ways!

Our challenge:

• To design trainings that are effective

• To design trainings that are memorable

• To design trainings that change people’s minds and hearts

• To design trainings that ultimately reduce child abuse and neglect!

Starting with the end in mind!

Each SF training has two goals:

• To prevent child abuse and neglect

• To improve the quality of child care

The trainings-based on HOW ADULTS LEARN

The ELC• EXPERIENTIAL• LEARNING • CYCLE

David Kolb—author of the Experiential Learning Model

ExperiencePublish Process

Generalize

Apply

ELC: Experience

Apply Pub/Process

Generalize

How does this work?

• The trainer leads an activity that the participants can do that will capitalize on their own life experiences to teach a principle.

• Challenge—teach about TEAMWORK!

Exercise

A sample activity… Experience:

Think of a problem or concern you have had sometime in your life.

Now think—

Who is the LAST PERSON in the world you would go to discuss it?

WHY?

(write it down!)

Experience continued…

Now think of the person you would be MOST LIKELY to go to…

WHY?

(again—write it down)

Publish/Process:

• Brainstorm/share lists

• What do all of our answers have in common?

• What are some of the major characteristics of those we want to talk to?

Generalize:

• Discuss handouts:

• What is “Active Listening” and how does it make a person feel “heard”?

• What is a “Stopper” to communication---and how can we avoid them?

Apply:

• What changes do you think could occur in your facility if you were a more “approachable person” when speaking with parents?

• How can positive communication skills help to strengthen families?

• Take a moment to write down ways that you could apply what you are learning.

Summary:

• Good communication skills are vitally important when deciding to implement the Strengthening Families approach to preventing child abuse and neglect. “Getting Started” (Section 2 of the SF guidebook) describes the process of having conversations with staff, parents, and community service providers to help programs think through how to use this approach. (P. 23)

EXPERIENCE

The participants “do something” that demonstrates the major idea of the learning objective

• Brainstorming

• Worksheets

• Games

• Dances!

• Whatever!

PUBLISHWhat did we do?

SHARE

• List as a group

• Brainstorm

• Write

• Talk in pairs

• Talk in small groups

PROCESSHow do we compare?

After SHARING---COMPARING!

• Examine the data!

• What happened?

• How was it for you?

GENERALIZE

SO WHAT?• Why did we do this?

• What does this all have to do with the real world?

• What did we learn?

APPLY

NOW WHAT?How do we apply what we’ve learned out in the “real

world”?

TA-DA!• Now there’s a TEAM!

And so the cycle continues…

ExperiencePublish Process

Generalize

Apply

Why use the “cycle”?

Experience

Apply Pub/Process

Generalize

Why use the “cycle”?

Concrete

Active Reflective

Abstract

So—why use “the cycle”?

Everyone can connect with at least one stage of the ELC—no matter what their learning style!

The SF plans—design:

• Learning goals and objectives• Timeline for trainers• Lesson plan—written in “ELC”

– Experience—the “activity”– Publish/process– Generalize– Apply—”Make a Plan” and “Keep/change/add”

• Evaluation

The Tool Box Design:

• Designed with the trainer in mind!

• Everything you need to deliver all 8 modules -- beautifully & conveniently packaged…

The toolbox…manual and folders

The supplies…a few samples…

What the participants are saying…

• “I get it…I finally get it! I finally get why it’s important to have parents involved!”

• “The teacher really cared and had great examples.”

• “I really enjoyed this class...I wish it didn’t have to end!”

• “It was clearly presented—useful and informative.”

• “[I felt] energy in doing things right, and confidence in doing things better.”

• “…you can have a huge impact just by opening the doors of communication.”

What the trainers are saying…

• “Everything you need to conduct a successful training is included in each module. There are fun activities to engage participants and valuable information each provider needs in order to strengthen their relationship with the families of the children in their care. It’s easy to link each training together…this helps participants to see their role in strengthening their relationships with families in order to prevent child abuse and neglect.” Alicia Robertson

More from the trainers…

• “Each training becomes better than the last as the participants use the information. Sometimes the providers report that they were able to use the information and handouts the next day. During the training, the providers become comfortable with each other and share ideas with each other. I see them make the connection that they are an important part of preventing child abuse and neglect before it happens.”

Barbara Larsen

This training is:

• Research-based

• Well designed

• Tested and proven to be effective

• Easy to follow

• Fun

And most importantly…

…changing the lives

of children, families,

and child care

providers!

About one month after their enrollment an incident occurred when Angela dropped Michael off at the center with a large red hand print on his face. She dropped him off

quickly and left with little contact with the staff. Immediately we called Health and Welfare. Health and Welfare agreed to meet her at the center after they assessed the situation with Michael. Because of the Strengthening Families training our staff offered to support Angela and we were allowed to sit in on her interview with Child Protective Service officials from Health and Welfare and a local police detective. This group of professionals came up with a plan and we were asked to help monitor the situation. Angela agreed to check in with a member of our staff daily to report how things were going at home. She agreed to take parenting classes and through this ordeal she consented to counseling for both herself and her son. Currently this mom is active in center activities and works with her son’s elementary school to monitor Michael’s progress. She is a strong parent and now recognized that it is her job to be the parent. She has learned to set boundaries with Michael and to hear and respond in a caring way. She said to me “the best thing that happened to us was

being forced to get help. I knew I needed help I just didn’t know how to get it.”

“…Something amazing started to happen. The more we started connecting and exchanging ideas the more the

parents came to us and started to open up about their frustrations and looked to us for ideas and support.  I watched as my young staff blossomed and took pride in the fact that parents were actually coming to them for help and that they had the skills to guide them in the right direction. We started talking about everything from age appropriate

consequences to affordable medical care to healthy lunches and snacks!  Now I am watching the staff and parents connecting to discuss everything from behavior

plans to their child's upcoming ball games and school programs.   I see a sense of pride and enthusiasm in the staff and the children.  I see a sense of relief and enjoyment in the parents. For me, I learned that there are many ways to strengthen our relationships.  Doing the work has definitely paid off. The staff and parents are more open to information and we are all experiencing more positive and quality interactions with our children.  I can feel the energy that we have created between the staff, parents and the children and am looking forward to creating more opportunities to connect as we continue to grow in our efforts to strengthen families!”

Strengthening Families

Roger Sherman—Idaho Children’s Trust Fund

208-386-9317shermanr@dhw.idaho.gov

Maureen Durning-Idaho AEYC208-345-1090 Ext. 19

mdurning@idahoaeyc.org