English Skills Learning Center

Empowering Parents

This program gives parents access to English instruction on-site at their child’s school, either in the morning after parents have dropped children off, or in the afternoon before picking children up from school. Besides improving their English, the classes help parents become more active participants in their children’s education and integrate them more fully into their communities.

The classes follow a curriculum developed specifically for this program that covers topics such as talking to your child's teacher, reading a report card, and understanding school expectations.  This curriculum is  supplemented with lessons from the Step Forward series of ESL manuals as well as the From Home to School reading comprehension series.  

Additionally, once a month, each class has a lesson centered on a children's book.  The parents work on reading comprehension, reading fluency, and strategies for reading with their children.  This aspect of the program promotes regular reading with children, which greatly impacts children's academic success.  Studies show that children whose parents learn English do better in school.  In the 2011-2012 school year, the program was offered at 11 schools throughout the Salt Lake Valley.