I went to get my drink and the man was standing in front on the laundromat next door. I couldn't resist. "Boa?" I asked, not being a particular connoisseur of snakes.

"It's a python from Australia," he said as I reached out to touch the snake.

I stopped in mid-air. "I thought python's were poisonous," I said.

"Not this kind," he said. I figured that must be true since he was wearing it around his neck. The snake was at least six feet long and as big around as my wrist.

I touched it as he showed me how he could pet its whole head without worry. I was just pleased to be touching it without much fear. I'm not a huge fan of snakes.

As I was petting the snake, I watched two little boys peering out of the window from the laundromat. What two boys wouldn't want to pet a snake? I'd never seen the boys before, but mom was with them so I walked in. "Are you going to touch the snake?" I asked them. There was a lot of feet shuffling, but no real movement.

I went to get my drink next door. When I came up to the counter the snake man was in front of me and the boys were standing at the door wide-eyed. You could see it all over them, "Please, please let me touch it." And on the other hand you knew mom had said, "Don't talk to strangers especially ones with snakes around their necks."

My kids had some favorite stories when they were little. One they heard a great deal was The Elephant's Child by Rudyard Kipling. In the story is a Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake who lives near the banks of "the great, grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set-about with fever trees." My twin boys were especially fond of the Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake. I wonder what they'll say when I tell them mom touched one. I hope the laundromat boys finally did too.

South Carolina and Texas speak a language of Family Engagement requiring a slow southern drawl. The interest is connecting with parents especially in connecting around literacy. In South Carolina we talked about not only reading and writing, but listening and speaking. Reading well is also about having a vocabulary that translates from what a child hears and uses in thinking and talking to what he or she can read.

Reading comprehension only comes from what a child understands and can "see" in his or her head as the words are read. If you can't "see" it, in other words get a picture of what the words mean, you don't get it. Building a verbal vocabulary really helps a child to "see" more words whether written or spoken. Parents can definitely help by talking, sharing, listening, and building vocabulary at any age. From pointing at a picture of a dog and saying dog to an infant to going to the zoo to differentiate between an orangutan and a gorilla, language is about learning words. Then when the word is spoken or seen in print a picture of a dog, orangutan or a gorilla pops into your head. The experience you have with the word creates the comprehension of what is been said or read.

Try it with your kids. My kids loved the word antidisestablishmentarianism. It's so long and hard to say and not found in my on-line thesaurus. Few pictures come to mind about what the word means since I don't use it in casual coversation, but I have great pictures of my kids scrambling to find it in the dictionary.

In LA, we were not talking just about English literacy, in part we were dealing with families engaged in literacy in Spanish and English. One of my several meetings there was with Los Angeles Unified's District Language Acquisition Committee (DLAC). The meeting was conducted in Spanish yet the goals discussed were about helping children learn English. There wasn't a member in the room who wasn't interested in the outcomes of not only this meeting, but what was happening at their child's school to help children be literate in English as well as Spanish. ¡Que bueno!

So Family Engagement is talked about across the country be it with a warm southern drawl or melodious Spanish. ¡Que bueno! Ya'll.

"An hypothesis?" I said in wonder that a four-year-old would know that word. "How will you test it?" I asked pushing my luck to see what her answer would be.

"Well, you see, I'm a mermaid with fins when I'm in the water," this was said from the bathtub as she swam around in the rather oversized tub. "My ipothesis is that when I'm in the water I'm a mermaid, but when I'm out of the water I will have feet and walk like a person. I'll test it when I let the water out and I can be a person again."

"Jocelyn, where did you learn the word hypothesis?" I asked.

"Grammie, it's Ipothesis and I learned it from Buddy on Dinosaur Train on PBS Kids."

The wonder of learning and the amazing ability of a child's imaginiation truly are to be enjoyed. It's so much fun to watch a child create and learn, and she learns everything so quickly. New vocabulary pops up with an understanding that doesn't have to be explained. It's just experienced.

Sunday morning we went on an adventure. Jocelyn created a map complete with a starting point and an X on the spot. Who knows what we'll find in our car/ship with Fiona the GPS navigator to give us directions. Life is truly an adventure when you're four. Can it continue to be an adventure at 14? How about 40?

Postscript: Our adventure map and Fiona led us to a hands-on kids museum where we spent hours playing in the firetruck, in the dentist chair, and sorting money in the bank. I say we because this is about engagement so while some parents and grandparents watched their children play, Jocelyn is including me in her imagniary drive through the city at top speed in the news reporter's truck. It didn't matter what the story was. We were going to be first on the scene with the report. My "ipothesis?": this child, like all children, learn as fast as we're willing to give them the information.

This Sunday was fun because I do enjoy the game, and I didn't have a vested interest in who won. Peyton Manning is such fun to watch as a quarterback, but everyone so wanted New Orleans to win if for no other reason than to support a town where it hasn't been easy for awhile. I couldn't be disappointed either way.

The treat I wasn't expecting was Drew Brees and his son Baylen. The Pampers commercial charmed everyone, but holding his son in his arms after the game was the ultimate in being Daddy. Here's a guy who's the MVP of the SuperBowl, and he's catching confetti with his thirteen-month-old and telling him he loves him in front of the entire world. I'd heard earlier in the day that SuperBowl Sunday is the biggest day of the year for domestic abuse. I'd heard that before and wondered what anyone could do to counteract that kind of aggression. Drew Brees did it simply by reminding us that football is a game, you play it, and when it's over you turn to what you love most--family.

Thanks for the reminder and congratulations on a job well done.

Two days of interacting and building relationships around parent involvement in Glendale schools, netted plans for creating a parent room, recruiting lunchtime helpers, and creating a policy for 40 hours a year for some type of family engagement. You may wonder what lunchtime helpers has to do with learning since schools focus on learning and those are the results we've been looking for in school. We do want children learning, and in order for parents to feel part of the school learning process, it's important to become part of the school. If lunchtime support is what helps a parent valued as part of the school and help the school to run better, then celebrate the lunchtime helpers.

I visited a school in El Dorado County, CA recently where the lunch folks made a huge difference. They knew all the children's names, made sure those without close friends had someone to talk with at lunch, and checked on one who's dog had just died. The principal had wonderful stories about how much those folks cared about the kids at their school. By the way, they have some of the highest test scores in the county. I little tender, loving attention goes a long way to reassure a child.

So Glendale is on their way to creating the environments on their campuses. (I wonder if the plural of campus could be campi? Probably not from any English teacher I know, and I know a gaggle of them.) I always mention schools who are Going for Great. Now I can add Glendale to the Going for Great list.

PS. If you'd like an overview of our Family Friendliness check out Channel 12 School Solutions and look for How to Make Schools More Family Friendly http://www.azcentral.com/12news/schoolsolutions/. Thanks Kim for a great interview and your support.

The fun part of this group is that it's a whole statewide effort to make family engagement work. The state is California and it's a pretty good size state with so many issues to deal with so it does take a lot of building relationships to make it happen. The representatives are an eclectic mix. The state department of education is involved and provides the leadership. The two state Parent Information Resource Centers (PIRC) are here as is PTA, County offices, school districts, parents, and folks like me who help support all those folks to make the connections happen. So all of us get to talk about our favorite pieces.

As you can imagine, the discussion gets passionate and exciting. Today's was no exception. How do we work in a state with its 7 million students and families? The member of the FAN often come with different ways of handling all of these students. Some will come asking questions about how to help non-English students or special ed students or students in poverty. One of our participants was talking about the high amount of crime in his district and that three of their students had been killed this year already in crime related concerns. How do you deal with that?

It's all about helping kids and families. Regardless of differences in focus, there isn't one of us in the room that doesn't want family and school connection. Yea!

If you have a Mall nearby it works, but if you don't, here's another option. Tracey Stockton-Burnett, Principal in Fentress County, Tennessee is opening up her school to be your newest walking path. She's encouraging Moms, especially Moms with babies and toddlers to walk her hallways. Since classroom doors are closed while learning is going on, the hallways are empty. Welcome to a warm, safe, friendly place to walk.

In addition, Tracey is so sure Moms will feel comfortable at her school, she's looking forward to more interaction besides just the tour d' school. Maybe some help decorating the hallway bulletin board or time in the teacher workroom. It doesn't matter if someone jumps in or not. What matters is that families feel comfortable in the school, and it becomes a place for fun and enjoyment. What better thoughts could you have around a place for learning?

Thanks Tracey for the great idea. For those that are a little concerned about knowing who's in those hallways, you must sign in at the front desk, be part of the community, and wear a visitors orange sticker. We want this to be a safe place for everyone while enjoying your walk.

This afternoon, Wednesday at 1:00, I had the opportunity to talk with one of those participants via Skype. I could see John sitting at his desk on the other side of the world 8,000 miles away just as if he were in my living room. I mentioned the time only because it was 8:00 AM Thursday morning for him. We had some time for conversation before he had to leave for a function in Melbourne. It wasn't the tennis matches. I asked.

What amazing technology we have to be able to do meet someone and then see and talk with them again.

I could go on about the technology, but you know I write about kids, families, and learning and this post is no exception. I'm just looking at how to facilitate kids, families, and their school learning experiences half-way around the world with someone else who has the same passion

Isn't life grand? Think of what a similar person, with the same passion could do in Africa or Haiti or anywhere. Wow. How exciting is that?

So..as I did when I started my newspaper column years ago, here's a bit of sharing about my own family. Those children I told you about when they were in grade school are now grown and beginning to have children of their own. Those ideas we shared about playing, learning, and doing things together are paying off for the next generation of offspring in the Samples clan.

This is my daughter Jennifer's baby. Her name is London. She's enjoying her first birthday party. I didn't know my house could hold that many people, especially that many people enjoying themselves for a one-year-old's party, but enjoy we did. Especially London.

If it's anything like mine, I can't wish more joy for you. You know how much I love children so to spend a couple of days with my two girls, their husband/boyfriend, and my grand daughter is just so much fun. I do hope your beginning of the year is equally as enjoyable.

You'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what i mean when I get the pictures from my daughter, but you'll see what I mean...

Happy, Happy,
Joni

My long-time friend, Dr. Vicki Barber, is the County School Superintendent for El Dorado County Caifornia. I've been saying to her for months I'd like to visit some of her schools, and we finally made it happen. What a delightful opportunity.

I'm always looking for great schools in the area of family engagement, but I like any school that has a unique flair for teaching children and all three of these schools do.

My first visit was to Jackson Elementary. Michele Miller, the principal, showed me around. I was captivated in under five minutes. From the garden to the classroom for the orthopedically handicapped students to the preschool, this school has a wonderful feel about it. Michele talked about success--success of her students, the staff, and the folks that support them.

She is especially fond of her noon duty staff who she said just knew everything about the kids. If one of the children was down, they'd soon know why and would be managing to find a way to bring cheer to the youngster. She modestly admitted that her school had been the top in the county for several years until just this last year when one other school slipped ahead of them.

I was delighted with the start of my tour and went next to Silva Valley Elementary. Kathy Holliman's first year as principal hasn't been dull as she's shifted schedules and raised class sizes to accommodate a declining budget. It seems many administrators have made those kinds of adjustments this year, but Kathy seems to have weathered it well with plenty of support from parents, teachers, and support staff.

Oak Ridge High School receives the students from both these elementarey schools, and was my last stop for the day. With 2200 students on the campus, you'd think it would be pretty crazy during their one lunch period, but students seemed intent on having a good day. They left their classes, stepped around the two adults standing in the hallway of the new math and science building, and scattered throughout the campus with lunches in hand. Some went to various club meetings for lunch. Others sat in groups enjoying the sunshine. A good chance to do so after the first snow days in 30 years closed schools just a few days before.

I walked with Steve Wehr, the Oak Ridge principal, to the other side of a bridge leading to their gym and drama departments. "It feels more like a college campus," I said as we retraced our steps back to his office. The behavior of the students also felt older and more mature. It takes good leadership and respect for students to make that happen.

All three schools had a feel of enjoyable places to be. My thanks to the three El Dorado County schools for their wonderful hospitality. May I come again soon?

I've been doing this work for several years now and occasionally there's a situation in which all the stars align. Such was the case with Omega Charter District in Glendale, Arizona. Have there been other situations in which things went well? You bet, and as I do this work, it happens more and more often. And, as I mentioned, occasionally everything works like clockwork.

So what happened in Omega? Well, first it was attitude. Omega is geared for working with their parents. The staff has a high respect for the children as well as their families. Staff and parents believe it's a joint effort so they were excited about the prospect of learning ways of working together. They believe they have the skills and desire to work collaboratively. It isn't an "us" and "them" mentality. And they also believe that, regardless of circumstances, children can learn.

In that attitude, a theme reflected in their motto: "Rekindling the Spirit of Learning and Work", teams from each of the schools came together on a Friday and Saturday to learn more how to engage parents in learning. We spent two full days together, learning, planning, and designing. One group will have a career fair, while another will landscape their campus, and a third will upgrade their computer lab. Each project is unique to their campus and their needs. The results, as one of the participants put it, will be determined by the way they carry out their plans. But the intention to work together--staff and parents--is there. The will to complete a project with the parents engaged in the development and implementation already exists.

We also began getting parents ready for the next stage, their engagement in their child's learning, by conducting a parent workshop. More than 30 parents showed up on a Friday night three weeks before Christmas. Now that's dedication. Their participation also says we're here, we're interested, and we want to be involved.

And so you have Omega... Ready to go, willing to learn, and able to work together for the success of their kids.

As one of my colleagues, Elizabeth, and I walked into the parent resource room, the coordinator, Mr. Rico said, "Oh, don't worry about all those boxes. It's all stuff for the clothing bank." There were boxes all along one wall stacked five high. These guys were serious.

Toward the end of the row of boxes, there was a space and then several more boxes, but these had loaves of bread on top of them, lots of loaves of bread. "Oh, yes, we had some great donations of bread this week. That will help with the food drive," Mr. Rico said.

On the other side of the room, he held class or at least class for the kids that came in to do community service projects. "It's 60% unemployment around here," he said. "We need to do everything we can. You need to come see the Christmas tree."

In the cafeteria where the after school program creates a place for kids to be post-school activities, a dozen kids helped decorate a very large tree. It may be a bit rough economically for some of the families in the neighborhood, but Mr. Rico was making sure that there was at least some feeling of Christmas in the hearts and minds of the kids in his school. There may be many Isaac's this year. Hopefully there are just as many Mr. Ricos.

The last few days in Phoenix has been a week of watching dedicated and caring people working to share what they have and know and their love with others. Stay tuned for the story at Omega Charter. Their story is worth reading.

Monday I was in for an eye check-up. In the waiting room with me were a mom and her probably 3-year-old son. "Sit down. No, don't touch. Come here," phrases were repeated several times. He didn't hear them. The Christmas tree needed his attention. So did the light switch that controlled the lights on the tree. Oh, and there's the TV screen with a waterfall on it, and the magazine someone left in the chair. All areas of exploration and fun.

Not for mom. She was more interested in apologizing to me or whomever else and trying to get the squirming, wiggling body on a chair, her lap, or anywhere to be still for just a moment. Not happening, mom.

Later the same day I stopped by to see my grandbaby, London. She's now 10 months and also exploring everything. With her, everything goes in the mouth. It all about the feel and taste of what ever she sees.

Yesterday was a 6-month-old who I plan to get to know a bit better today. She'll be at her first Thanksgiving. What a treat to be able to watch a small child experience what some of us have experienced for many years. This is where she learns tradition, family and what it means to be born where she is. Hm..that could get pretty philosophical and misty.

I think we'll leave it with how grateful I am to be able to enjoy children in each of their stages of learning and development. It's fun to watch them partake of all that's out there to learn and to see them pick the pieces they like most. Moms may try to stop the process. Others may too, but, little as they are, they will persist and learn what they need to know.

Guess I'm pretty thankful for that learning. Enjoy your day.

What a wonderful look at two different sides of the world and two different ways of looking at schooling, but two groups with very similar interests--to help children and families learn, and, with me, to help families and schools work together to support that learning.

Two cultures exist in both settings. At Isaac there are English and Spanish families. In Australia there are Australian and Aboriginal families. They both have ways to instruct children--many of them very similar. They both have tests and grades, but in Australia they're eduation system seems more regulated under a common set of Federal standards and assessment system. While ours in the US are more on a state and district by district level.

We were treated to visit to a nearby school where they have a small garden. The next day Mary-Anne Rooney, principal of Eaglehawk Primay in Bendigo, shared slides from their website of the garden where students harvest many of their lunch and snack edibles. Our Arizona desert friends were jealous of the wonderful growing capacity not available in arid Phoenix.

On Tuesday at break, we had tea. I had anticipated a hot or cold liquid, but tea was Tim-Tams, chocolate covered mint cookies, and Cadbury chocolate bars with animals like wombats and kangaroos on the wrappers. Lunch was enchiladas, tacos, and mini-burritos provided by Isaac.

Contrasts not withstanding, the similarities were amazing, especially in their support for children and families.