At first, Sable didn’t worry too much about school readiness. For the longest time, she just let her sons play together, assuming that her youngest son would just learn what he needed to know from his older brothers.
But once the older boys headed off to school, she realized
that Jordan, her youngest, still had a lot to learn before he would be ready.
Sable’s nephew had benefited from the SPARK program, so she signed up too. She’s so glad she did!
SPARK has made all
the difference. Sable likes how the family’s SPARK parent partner makes learning fun by singing a song with the letters in Jordan’s name. Jordan still sings that song all the time, and he’s starting to write those letters.
The parent partner is super-helpful at breaking down tasks into manageable activities: where to place the pencil, how to draw the parts of the letter, how to start the next letter, and how to practice, practice, practice. The parent partner helps Sable understand Jordan’s strengths and which areas he needs to work on a bit more.
SPARK also helps Jordan strengthen the social-emotional
skills he will need to do well in school. By learning the words for various
feelings, children are able to understand their own feelings and empathize with
the feelings of others. So one SPARK activity involves looking at photos
showing lots of different facial expressions. Sable and Jordan worked together
to name each expression. Then Sable helped Jordan connect the expressions to
real-life situations by asking questions: remember when your brother made that
face? What do you think he was feeling?
Sable is so thankful: her parent partner’s insight, support, and guidance have given her the skills and strategies she needs to help Jordan be ready to succeed.
