Tools for Families

Yes! Our Kids Can incorporates a family engagement component that helps to demystify the process of college preparedness and encourages consistent family participation in the effort. We empower parents to influence their child’s success through regular messages via smart phone, including tips for discussion and positive reinforcement.

parents

Almost all parents want a better life for their children and crave guidance. YOKC equips them to be the HERO in their child’s academic life.

The YOKC family engagement component is designed to encourage consistent engagement in the child’s day-to-day learning and to break down the process of college preparedness. To support their child’s success, the program supplies parents with positive reinforcements and ideas for discussion utilizing text notifications via parent’s smart phone.

The program also incorporates supplemental learning sessions called “See Your Child’s Future Nights,” where YOKC can extend the conversation and provides additional learnings about college, career options and life planning specifically for parents.

bg

Program Goals

We provide parents with tips, affirmations and positive talking points aligned specifically with the YOKC in-class activities so they can discuss, review and support their child’s learning.

The YOKC family engagement component seeks to create consistent involvement, utilizing technology to deliver scheduled daily/weekly messages, giving parents a much-needed springboard for daily discussions with their children about post-secondary education.

bg

Designed to Reach Families

Communication is vital to YOKC family involvement. We are speaking to parents on a channel they use, in the language they prefer, and sharing positive and aspirational messages they crave to support their child’s education journey.

Research shows low-income households lag behind on technology adoption, yet there is one device they seem to not do without - the smart phone. In fact, the majority of women, ages 18-35, in households with children and with low income have smart phones.

Knowing this, YOKC is delivering parent messages via their most consistent and convenient tool, their smart phones. YOKC utilizes a secure and FREE communication app, trusted and used by schools nationwide, called “Remind.” This app allows for private, real-time text messaging to any device. Parents can choose to receive messages as texts, emails or smart phone notifications.

GirlIpad

With parents, language preference is a must. The YOKC programs are designed to include low-income. Parent messages as well as parent learning materials are available in both English and Spanish, giving parents the option to select their preference.

Connecting to Parents

YOKC will deliver three types of messaging to parents via their smart phone:

Phone

Quick Tip

Bite-size messages, delivered two-three times a week, to equip parents to validate their child’s effort as well as prepare them for short, positive conversations about the topics they are learning in the classroom.

Two-Minute Talk Topics

Weekly instructional content to help parents engage in a longer discussion (two minutes) with their child on what they have learned during the week. This conversation starter calls for more interaction and gives the child an opportunity to share songs, games and accomplishments and parents the opportunity to listen, understand and get excited about their child’s progress.

"See Your Child’s Future" Learning

In-depth information sessions for learning more on a multitude of topics relate development of a success mindset, family health as well as career planning. These sessions were created to help break down the process of post-secondary education and provide examples, instruction and encouragement for parents so that they can be more fully engaged in the process.