School program helps parents learn English with their children

While small children tend to be shy around strangers, immigrant children are accustomed to speaking out as their parents' communicators.

Jared Vargas, 9, couldn't resist boasting about his mother's progress in learning English.

"She's made a big jump from where she used to be," Jared said. "She can pronounce words so much better. I'm so proud of her."

Jared's mom, Veronica Vargas, is learning with her son. She observes two of his classes and takes an additional 11 hours of English lessons for adults each week at Culley Elementary School, at 1200 N. Mallard St. near Vegas Drive and Jones Boulevard.

"When she's in the classroom, I feel like there's somebody there to support me," Jared said.

The family literacy program, which is helping 60 Spanish-speaking adults improve their English alongside their children in the Clark County School District, is funded with a $600,000 grant from Toyota.

The National Center for Family Literacy, based in Louisville, Ky., awards the grants on a competitive basis, with hundreds of districts across the country applying for them annually, said Sharon Darling, the literacy center's founder.

For many adult participants, attending school with their children is their first experience with formal education, Darling said.

At a Wednesday press conference at Tom Williams Elementary School, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman spoke from experience when he said family-based literacy programs "really work."

His Russian-born grandmother, Elizabeth Baylin, learned English late in life by going to kindergarten with him. "She sat in the back of the classroom," Goodman recalled.

In the family literacy program for Clark County, parents attend two classes a week with their children. They also take nine hours of English instruction for adults. An additional two hours are devoted to learning about opportunities in the school system and parenting tips.

So not only are parents learning English and becoming more involved in their children's education, they are also learning how to take advantage of district opportunities.

"My mother wants me to go to a magnet school for science," said Jared, who was inspired by cartoons of "mad scientists" to become a chemist.

Jared's mother is a homemaker with four children who range in age from 9 months to 9 years. She moved to the United States from Mexico 15 years ago. Her formal work experience is limited to being a Spanish telemarketer.

"My English was so-so, not so good," Vargas said. Her main motivation for learning English is to help her children go to college.

Because of the Toyota grant, which is disbursed over three years, the three participating schools -- Tom Williams, Culley and Martinez elementary schools -- are able to provide on-site child care for participating families. The grant also pays for teacher training and other services to "glue the program together," Darling said.

In Clark County, all the adult participants are mothers, school officials said. Two fathers were involved when the program started but had to drop out because of work conflicts.

While district students speak 98 different languages, the program is designed for Spanish speakers. Each of the three participating schools have enrollments that are about 78 percent Hispanic.

Tom Williams in North Las Vegas is located at 3000 E. Tonopah Ave., near Pecos Road. Martinez is at 350 Judson Ave., north of Lake Mead Boulevard in North Las Vegas.

Ana Gonzalez, a participant and mother of a kindergartner at Martinez, appreciates that her children are beginning to ask her more questions about their homework.

"I feel they have more confidence in me now," she said.

Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug@reviewjournal.com or 702-374-7917.