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