Approaches to Effective Family Literacy Gerie Cruz, Former Head Start Parent Gerie Cruz is a former Head Start parent from Tucson, Arizona. She is the mother of four children: Stephanie, Victoria, Miguel, and Chelsea. Her three eldest children were all enrolled in Head Start, and Chelsea - now two years old - will likely enroll in another year. Cruz was active on the Policy Council of her local Head Start program, including serving as the Council’s secretary. Cruz attended family literacy classes with Miguel, which served as a strong impetus for bringing Head Start values into the home. "Even my husband became involved in the ‘reading challenge’ to see how many books we would read at home in a week." "When I enrolled my children in Head Start, I thought they were the ones that would be the students. But each year I continued to learn how to be a better parent, and that children have an important role in the family. Every member has a voice to be respected." — Gerie Cruz Presentation Highlights This Head Start parent speaks eloquently about the value of Head Start and the Family Literacy Program to her family. She discusses the need for strong team players to support family literacy. Ms. Cruz also presents the idea that the approach one takes to handling life’s challenges may be a predictor of success as hurdles are encountered along the way. Before she was involved in the family literacy program, Ms. Cruz had trouble balancing the idea of taking time for her own literacy goals when it seemed the spotlight was supposed to be solely on her children. However, as she spent more time with the program, she learned that the spotlight needed to be expanded to allow the whole family to work on their goals and shine. This presentation helps Head Start professionals understand the Head Start experience from a parent’s perspective. Video of Presentation Presentation Highlights No Handout for This Presentation List of Literacy presenters/presentations Information on how to view videos and view/download handouts

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