Guatemala Update: School for Parents

A New Scholarship Program Activity

At Sharing the Dream, we believe in sustainable solutions. We believe that in order for a project or program to be sustainable, participants must be involved and have a say in what we do.  We are continually getting feedback from our program participants and designing programs, projects, and activities based on that feedback.  The School for Parents is our newest Scholarship Program activity.  

Last year, we conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the Scholarship Program to ensure that we are making the largest possible impact.  We interviewed scholarship students, parents, teachers, and community leaders for their feedback. One thing we kept hearing was a desire for parents to be more involved in their children's education. The majority of the scholarship students' parents didn't have the opportunity to go to school for longer than a few years, and they didn't feel comfortable navigating the school system.  They wanted to learn how to better support their children in their schooling and help them to be successful. The School for Parents grew out of that expressed desire.  

Parents offer suggestions to each other during this month's School for Parents

The School for Parents are monthly workshops for the parents of our scholarship students aimed at helping parents to better support their children at school.  The interactive workshops are held round table discussion style, and parents are encouraged to participate and share advice with one another. The workshops are taught by local experts, such as psychologists and teachers, and the topics are chosen by the parents.  

July was our first ever School for Parents workshop.  Last month's topic was "Self-esteem: Getting to know yourself and your children".  The workshop was given by a psychologist from our partner organization, La Puerta Abierta.  The participants learned what self-esteem is, how to help their children to develop good self-esteem, and how self-esteem affects children at school. 

Parent's participate in July's School for Parents workshop on Self-Esteem

This month's School for Parents topic was "Emotional Support". To start the workshop off, the participants played an ice-breaker game to get to know one another. Then, they played a game about emotions and discussed the emotions that children oftentimes experience at school, such as happiness, fear, sadness, and anger. Parents learned ways that they can support their children through these different emotions and how to identify a larger problem, such as depression or anxiety.  Throughout the activity, the parents were able to ask questions, share their experiences, and support one another.  

Parents play an ice-breaker game during this month's School for Parents

Help us to continue to provide these tools to the parents.  For only $50, you can sponsor a School for Parents workshop and help parents in Guatemala to better support their children. 

DONATE