Planning ideas
Like any other course, the students' work will be based around their individual learning needs. However you'll need to include work which will also help them help their children. Read my Family reading lesson plan on how we learn to read. It can bring up opportunities for parents to discuss communication in general.

Keep parents well informed of what is expected of them during the course. They may be frustrated, feeling they can't support their child. Give simple examples of how they can help their child, from making wooden spoon puppets to cooking alphabet spaghetti! Once parents understand the value of play activities and realise they can help, you're opening up a new world.

If you have an outing near the beginning of the course with parents and children, it helps bond the group. Everyday literacy topics flow naturally from the planning of a trip. From maps to the 'I Spy' game, you and the teacher can make lots of material for parent and child to do together. A local zoo or museum will send you advance copies of their publicity. You can build adult teaching materials out of these.

The joint sessions
These are rewarding and fun. But what does the adult tutor do? We are there to support the parents. Most of our work has been preparing them before hand. We've created a safe environment where they know they can ask questions and try out new skills. The children's teacher leads the joint work. On a BSA programmes a basic skills tutor is never asked to work alone with families. We always team-teach. Most of us do not have training to work with kids.

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