Activity 4-4:
The Family Storybook



Purpose: To use a family storybook to record and celebrate family accomplishments.

Preparation: For this activity you will need:

• Handout 8: Pages from a Family Storybook
  
  
• Newsprint/Markers/Tape
  

1. Introduce the concept of the family storybook. Emphasize that families, as well as staff, benefit from recording family information. Introduce the concept of the family storybook. Explain that the family storybook is a vehicle for documenting family growth. Continue with these points:
   
   
   • The family storybook is a collection of materials about the family which are gathered by family members and Head Start staff. It is a living document of the family's goals, challenges, strengths, and achievements.
     
     
   • The family storybook can be used to capture memories of significant events in the family's life, and to acknowledge and reinforce the family's successes during its time in Head Start.
     
     
   • The family storybook is owned by the family and lives with the family.
     
     
   • The family storybook can be used by the family to organize information about the family, such as a child's development.
     
     
2. a) Identify family storybook items. Ask staff to describe materials they have collected that tell their family stories, or that have become a reminder of family accomplishments, good times, or even challenges (for example, letters, pictures, photographs, video or audiotapes, menus from restaurants, postcards, and so on.). Explain that these materials can help families gain a better awareness of their strengths and areas of growth. Record the materials described by staff on newsprint.
   
   

   (b) Discuss strategies for involving families in the process of designing and keeping a storybook. Ask participants the following:
   
   

   • How would you or the program encourage families to keep a storybook?
     
     
   • What kind of supports and materials can you or the program provide to help families create a family storybook?
     
     
   (c) Discuss how the family storybook is similar to and/or different from your program's record-keeping requirements.
   
   
3. Assign homework to create a family storybook. Using their own families, have participants create a family storybook as homework. Tell participants to make this activity a family project and allow family members to decide how the book is arranged and what to include. Distribute handout 8, which serves as an example of a family storybook. Set a date and time to reconvene.
   
   
4. Debrief the homework. Review the family storybooks of participants. Discuss how they engaged family members, decided what to include, and celebrated success. Ask participants to identify reasons for encouraging families to keep a storybook. List the reasons on newsprint.
   
   
5. Close the activity. Explain that all families benefit from the documentation of their growth and development. The family storybook is one way of making documentation a meaningful and helpful family experience. The book lives with the family and the family decides what to include. Encourage participants to continue recording their family's growth and development by building on their own family storybooks.
   
   
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