4K Outreach
4K outreach supports the belief that families are valued core partners in the educational process. Families have both the right and the responsibility to share in decisions about their child's education and development. Outreach is intended to develop and promote partnerships between families and schools and to support families in their role as the primary educators of their children.
4K Outreach Examples
- Orientation activities the summer before the 4K program begins
- Educational Family Fun Nights: Family Celebrations, Community Cultural Events, Playful Learning Activities, etc.
- Pot Luck Dinners: Informal get-to-know-each-other events with focused discussion and dialogue with staff, creative performances by children, learning about/exploring resources supporting child development, etc.
- Home or Family Visits: Remember, to schedule these at times and locations that work for individual families. *Note these would not be counted as individual hours. If a 4K class has 15 children, and the home visit is for 1 hour, outreach hours counted would be 1 hour (not 15 hours).
- Governance/School Engagement: Establishment of an ongoing parent "advisory" committee to give input/feedback on how the 4K program is organized, provide suggestions for program and communication improvement, assist with increasing school personnel (and other families) knowledge of different cultures and unique skills and abilities etc.
- Collaborative Events with Community Partners (Child Care, Head Start, Libraries, Family/Health Resources). These events can be planned based on input from families related to their needs and/or desires to learn more about a specific subject/resource, etc.
- Transition to 5K: Transition activities and information to support families and children in moving from 4K to 5K.
Logging Outreach Hours: Considerations
Districts are required to track and log their outreach hours and have it readily available if requested during an audit. There is no statewide template to record these activities. Districts may develop their own templates/tracking systems. The following are considerations for district template/tracking system development.
- Logistical: Date, Lead Organizer/Facilitator, Outreach Hours
- Name and Format (In-person, virtual, etc.) of Activity
- Anticipated Outcomes/Goal
- Brief Description of Activity
- Co-Planners/Facilitators (ex . library, community support, etc.)
- Number of Families Participating
- Relevant Notes/Reflection: The below questions offer opportunities to briefly reflect upon the outreach activity. They can help to guide planning and implementing future activities.
- Was it successful? Was it not so Popular?
- What might be some follow-Up Questions/Ideas/Modifications?
- Would you repeat this activity again? Why or why not?