One City hosted the first EVER FAST@Home in our city/area

Commitment to Supporting Families in Wisconsin of One City Schools

19 Nov

F.A.S.T. @ Home: Virtual zoom - Open Invitation

F.A.S.T. @ Home: Virtual zoom - Open Invitation

One City hosted the first EVER FAST@Home in our city/area

Commitment to Supporting Families in Wisconsin of One City Schools

19 Nov

F.A.S.T. @ Home: Virtual zoom - Open Invitation

RSVP

On October 1st, One City will begin its TENTH (10th), eight-week cycle of FAST - and, notably, due to the pandemic, this will be our firstFAST@HOME session .

Graduation will be held on Thursday eve, November 19th, 2020

Below are our 2020 FAST Family GRADUATES:

Feel free to click on each family link below to add to their “Kudos Board” with your congratulations. What a keepsake!

Wickler Family (remote): 5K Teacher, Melissa Gobourne
https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/9BXaCpHL

Seiberlich Family (remote): 5K Teacher, Melissa Gobourne
https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/ijx7GCds

Rico-McKeen Family (remote): 4K Teacher, Michelle Bibb
https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/0114SEX9

McNeil Family (in person): 1st Grade Teacher, Boyce Hodge
https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/CuH8q8jb

Martin Family (remote): 5K Teacher, Amira Caire
https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/LschDQs9

Garcia Family (in person): 4K Teacher, Michelle Bibb
https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/6BGrdtxm

Ako-Drews Family (Twin boys; in person): 5K Teacher, Melissa Gobourne & Amira Caire
https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/K69TZ2p3

Abaraca Family (remote): 5K Teacher, Amira Caire
https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/LWZObZhw

So, what will happen each week and every Thursday night for EIGHT consecutive weeks from 6 - 8:00 pm over ZOOM?

FAMILY MEAL:

Mealtime during FAST at Home is a special time when the family is given a nutritional meal to eat together.

Eating a meal together as a family helps to make families stronger and gives them an opportunity to talk about their day and other topics. Many families have limited opportunities to do this because their lives are so busy. While we are all staying home right now, it is a good time to try to eat together as a family.

Goals of Component
  1. Strengthen the family unit.
  2. Build child’s self esteem.
  3. Develop communication skills among family members.
  4. Provide opportunities for parents to feel successful and empowered as being in charge of their family.

FAST HELLO:

Provides a way for all the families to know one another.

When parents are in charge of this process, it reinforces the hierarchy of the family, which contributes to stronger families.

Goals of Component
  1. Build stronger relationships within the home.
  2. Learn about and respect individuality of each family member.
  3. Connect and build social capital.
  4. Help families feel welcome and included as participants in FAST.
  5. Show respect to family and for their family name.

MUSIC/FAST SONG:

Music establishes a feeling of family or group cohesion andof belonging.

Children enjoy singing, which raises the fun factor. Music is an ice breaker and contributes to reducing stress and helps build community.

Only FAST Families know the FAST Song, which makes it special.

Goals of Component
  1. Decrease stress and anxiety.
  2. Have fun as a family or community by providing a positive experience.
  3. Set a boundary around the FAST families providing them with a shared experience.

SCRIBBLES:

Scribbles is a fun draw-and-talk family game for all ages.

It helps build communication in the family.

Goals of Component
  1. Provide family members with opportunities to practice respect while learning more about each other.
  2. Encourage turn-taking, listening and delaying gratification.
  3. Develop a stronger self-image.
  4. Provide opportunities for family members to be heard and listened to.
  5. Develop children’s vocabulary and ability to describe words.
  6. Define and reinforce the hierarchy of parents being in charge.

FEELINGS CHARADES:

Sharing feelings within a family and having one’s feelings understood is very important.

Sharing feelings builds closer bonds and also builds self-esteem.

FAST gives families the opportunity to open up and share feelings with each other.

What better time than during a crisis or uncertainty for families to talk to each other about their feelings regarding what is happening around them?

Children and youth do not always readily offer to share their feelings. Be patient and watch for clues for when they may be ready.

Engaging in activities that may provide a safe space and/or provoke conversations around feelings may assist children in opening up about how they are feeling.

Goals of Component
  1. Provide structured opportunities to identify and share feelings in a safe and caring environment.
  2. Develop a broad range of acceptable ways to express emotions,
  3. Identify various feelings within oneself and of family members.

KID’S TIME:

During Kid’s Time, children participate in activities together while parents are in the Parent Group.

This is an opportunity for children to be with their peers and develop or enhance friendships.

Goals of Component
  1. Develop self-expression and cooperative skills.
  2. Enhance a child’s coping skills.
  3. Enhance sibling relationships and make new friends.
  4. Reduce stress and isolation.
  5. Develop creative self-expression.
  6. Allow children to release tension.

BUDDY TIME:

Focuses on strengthening parent-to-parent bonds by providing parents an opportunity for one-to-one conversations with each other.

Gives adults who may be parenting as a “single parent” or who have a limited social support system to have an opportunity to have a one-to-one conversation with another adult.

During stressful times, it is important that we have an opportunity to relate to another adult and have support.

Parents can also reach out to other adults each day to support each other.

Goals of Component
  1. Strengthen parent-to-parent bonds.
  2. Provide parents with one-to-one conversations with another adult.
  3. Assists parents in developing their social support networks.
  4. Decrease negative parenting interactions by providing supportive interactions with another adult to decrease stress levels.  

PARENT GROUP:

Gives parents a chance to discuss relevant topics and begin to form or strengthen relationships.

Provides a forum for discussing sensitive issues in a safe, non-judgemental environment.

Increases a parent’s feelings of connectedness and decreases his or her isolation.

Parents who have built relationships can work together in other areas of life to relieve stress, resolve problems, and increase opportunities.

It is not for teaching parents how to be parents.

Confidentiality is extremely important and should be respected.

Can be separated by gender if parents prefer.

Goals of Component
  1. Provide an opportunity for parents to form friendships.
  2. Strengthen the bond between couples/co-parents.
  3. Strengthen adult-to-adult relationships.
  4. Decrease stress and isolation.
  5. Build Social Capital.
  6. Develop parent leadership skills.

SPECIAL PLAY:

Special Play is one of the most important activities of the FAST at Home program.

Gives parents one-to-one time with their child and has the child lead the play.

Open-ended and undirected and allows the parent to relate to their child on their terms.

Provides the opportunity for parents to have one-to-one Special Play time with each of their children.

Goals of Component
  1. Strengthen the bond between parent and child.
  2. Improve family interactions and behaviors of children within the home.
  3. Provide an opportunity for the parent to give full attention to the child.
  4. Increase self-esteem in children.
  5. Reduce conflict within a parent-child relationship.
  6. Increase success at home and school.

LOTTERY:

Used as an incentive to encourage program attendance and retention.

Each week a family (or families) wins a basket of family-focused items in a rig-type drawing.

Team members secretly choose the family who wins, and every family wins once.

Winning as a family also provides an opportunity for reciprocity;

The winning family is asked to give back to the participating families or within their families in some special way within the FAST at Home model.

Goals of Component
  1. Provide an opportunity to win as a family.
  2. Increase likelihood of family participation and retention in program.
  3. Build trust between parent and child.
  4. Instill a sense of delayed gratification in children.
  5. Allow for reciprocity.

RAIN/CLOSING CIRCLE:

Final activity of a FAST at Home session. !e Closing Circle

It's time for announcements, such as recognizing birthdays, anniversaries, or making announcements of any upcoming school or community event or resources for families.

After announcements, families participate in “RAIN,” which is a nonverbal exercise that makes everyone feel special and is a way to foster a feeling of closeness within the family at home or with other families virtually participating in FAST.

Goals of Component
  1. Provide structure to the ending of the FAST session.
  2. Develop a sense of connectedness among families.
  3. Provide a platform to make announcements and acknowledgements.
  4. Provide routine during times of stress and isolation.

SPECIAL PRESENTATION: WEEK 5, only

FAST Team presents (or arrange to have a presentation on)information of interest to the parents.

Parents should be given the opportunity to determine the focus of the presentation.

Team members can consult with the parents in the Parent Group or through individual conversations about their thoughts on any topic.

Goals of Special Presentation
  1. Provide information to families regarding a specific topic of interest chosen by the parents.
  2. Help families practice talking about difficult issues.
  3. Make needed resources available to families.
  4. Allows for families to address how the topic applies to their families and what preventative steps or applications can be made to help their family succeed.

GRADUATION FAST:

Designed to simulate an actual graduation and is a celebration for everyone - parents, children, and team members.

For some FAST at Home parents, this will be their first graduation, so it is a special time.

Team members and parents work together to plan graduation.

Special guests, such as the principal, can be invited to participate in a virtual or at home graduation ceremony (i.e., cruise-by ceremony).

Goals of Graduation
  1. Bring closure to the FAST at Home session.
  2. Celebrate accomplishments and completion of FAST at Home as a family.
  3. Celebrate as a FAST Community.
  4. Feel a sense of pride as individuals and as a family.

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If you have questions please contact us

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