Mission: Mothers’ Club Family Learning Center prepares families living in isolation and poverty to succeed in school and in life. We promote strong parent-child relationships and encourage friendship and mutual support among mothers through our education programs and social services, thereby creating a stronger community for all families.
Mothers’ Club is built on two guiding principles: in order for significant, long-term change to occur within a family, you must reach both parent and child and educate them together; and, the most critical time to reach a family is when children are proven to be most vulnerable and impressionable, between birth and 5 years-old.
Programs: Early childhood education: while parents are engaged in their classes, their pre-school children are cared for in our early childhood education program. The program objectives are based on pre-reading and other developmental skills in children from 0-5 years old to ensure that children are developing physically, socially, and emotionally. Children participate in one of five classrooms: infants, toddlers, two-year olds, pre-school, and pre-kindergarten. Each classroom is staffed by a lead teacher and an associate teacher. Teachers implement a research based curriculum and assess each child to measure his/her development. The early childhood education program is under the direction of a director of education. Children are assessed using the drdp which measures developmental milestones. This fiscal year 87% of preschool children not entering kindergarten(3-4 years-old) acheived a developmental level of "3" (developing) or higher for each of the four effective learner indicators measured with the drdp after a minimum of 200 hours of instruction. This exceeded our own benchmark of 70%. 81% of preschool children entering kindergarten (4-5 years-old)acheived a developmental level of "4" or "5" (building or integrating) for each of the four effective learner indicators measured with the drdp after a minimum of 200 hours of instruction. This exceeded our own benchmark of 70%. One hundred and ten (110) children participated in our early childhood education programs, which are offered in the morning and in the afternoon.
adult education: a core objective of this program is to improve family literacy through adult education classes. The director of education is responsible for designing this program which teaches english as a second language, computer skills, and basic adult education to immigrant parents. The objectives are: to improve the comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing skills of parents and to increase the ability of parents to support their child's learning. Results showed that 68% of parents studying english as a second language achieved a 3-5 point gain in their casas test score, significantly above our required goal of 60%. In addition, 100% of parents took on a leadership role this fiscal year, exceeding our goal of 70%. This fiscal year 48 parents were in our esl program.
parent education: parents are supported in their role as their child's first teacher by an integrated array of educational classes and support services that are under the direction of the parent program director. Parents attend weekly parent education classes, psychological support groups, and individual counseling if needed. In addition, parents assist once a week in their child's classroom where they are mentored by the ece teachers. The parent program director implements a variety of leadership skill building activities to help parents develop decision making skills that are important as their child grows. The objectives of the parent education program are: to increase the knowledge of child development in parents; to strengthen the bond between parent and child; and to improve the mental health of parents. Results showed that 95% of parents who were enrolled in our program for nine months attended 20 or more parent education classes. The attendance rate for parents was 80% and more than 95% of families remained in the program for the entire year. This fiscal year ninety parents participated in our parenting programs, which are offered in the morning and in the afternoon.
Being a pen pal was an easy and enjoyable way to volunteer and help a mother who was working very hard to improve her English. What a great idea created by Mothers' Club to get busy people involved in its effort!
Thru a volunteer program at work I have been involved with the Mother's Club for a year and a half. Some of the things I have contributed with is helping the kids make Valentine's Day & Mother's Day cards for their moms and most recently with the Reading Club. I like the way that they involve the children into each activity that they do and that we interact with them prior to any activity. I truly believe that the work they do each and every day makes a difference in everyone that goes thru the program.
I have been involved with Mother's Club for about 4 years. They are doing a fabulous job educating infants through pre-kindergarten children and their mother's. The mother's feel welcome and safe and secure and are taught how to teach their children. I have cooked with the mother's teaching them reading in English, healthy eating for their families.
Mothers' Club Family Learning Center is an exemplary nonprofit. It is fiscally well managed, with all efforts directed to their work with low income families. The two-generation learning model they have developed has been proven to work at empowering families to succeed in school and life and break the cycle of poverty.
