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Foster Grandparent Program |
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| Basic Info | | Stories | Contact Info | What Foster Grandparents Do Foster Grandparents serve in community settings such as schools, daycares, Head Starts, youth centers or any organization that serves children. In these community settings, our volunteers reach out to support children and give one-on-one attention and encouragement. They offer a listening ear to a troubled or distracted child who may be struggling to learn or even fit in. They nurture infants, help children learn to read, mentor neglected or abused children, assist children with learning or physical disabilities, keep struggling children on task and provide encouragement and academic or emotional support to troubled or at-risk children and youth. In classrooms, the teachers show the Foster Grandparents what is needed and direct them in their daily tasks. Foster Grandparents usually have a table where they sit with children individually or in small groups and, depending on the grade level, read to them or listen to them read; or help with worksheets or projects. Foster Grandparents become an important part of the school team. In child care centers, Foster Grandparents provide caring, gentle attention to babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers, helping them with the building blocks of literacy, pre-reading and pre-math, cognitive development and thinking skills, social and behavioral skills and emotional health. To accomplish these goals, Foster Grandparents engage in positive play, reading and nurturing. Teachers show them what is needed on a daily basis and soon Foster Grandparents feel like an important part of the team – without the responsibilities and pressures of a job. On top of that, Foster Grandparents are always “the good guys,” because they never have to discipline students. Always providing friendship and positive encouragement, they can be a powerful, positive force in a child’s life. Results In 2007, the following numbers of children with Special Needs were assisted by Foster Grandparents:
Program management also conducts regular assessments of the impact of the Foster Grandparents program on both the children served, and the senior volunteers:
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