Parent interview

In the following interview, a parent involved in Share talks about the benefits of the programme:

Please tell us a bit about yourself...

This is a photo of my family and me. There's my daughter Katie (aged 15), my son Joseph (aged 6) and myself (aged ?? ha ha)! My son and I did the Share course and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves throughout the whole of the Share group. To find out more about what I thought, please see below.

Why did you do Share?

I wanted to do Share not only for my benefit but for Joseph’s as well. I felt that once I had listened to the Share teacher explain what Share was about it would be a big help. I wanted to teach Joseph the correct way, how things are taught in school’s today.

What has Share helped you to achieve with your child?

I feel that Share has helped me achieve a great deal with Joseph by guiding me in the right direction with Joseph. By this I mean being more patient and understanding with Joseph when doing work and reading with him. Because as an adult and being able to read and write while we were doing Share we done activities through a child’s eyes and you forget how difficult things are when starting out. Joseph’s reading has rapidly improved through me doing Share as now I don’t jump in and say a word for Joseph I get him to sound it out and try the word.

What has Share helped you to achieve for yourself?

After doing Share I went into the classroom to listen to children read. I done this for quite some time. I feel because of Share I was able to help some children along with their reading and I felt great achievement with some of the children that were struggling when I started to read with them. After a few weeks with listening to a child read they were reading more confidently and clearly to me. I now realize that I have the patience and ability to be a teaching assistant which I would like to do in the near future.

What have you most enjoyed about Share?

I enjoyed the fact that as a group we hadn’t all met before and it was a great atmosphere. We had a laugh and got to know one another. Our Share teacher wasn’t just a teacher by the end of the course but also a friend. I also liked the activities that Joseph and I could do together because you haven’t always got time to sit and do things with your children but I made time and we still do to this day and we really enjoy our time.

What advice do you have for other parents doing Share?

Believe me it is well worth doing Share! You realize just how hard it is for our children to learn not only through reading and writing but even to the extent of knowing what your child is talking about when they say they have done ‘sounds’, ‘saying and seeing’, ‘phonics’, etc at school today. I will admit I didn’t know what Joseph was talking about when he used to first say these, now I use them all the while. If you want to know what I am talking about I would advise you to definitely go to a Share group.

What do you think about the Share accreditation?

I found this very fair it wasn’t as though you had to do lots of work on top of what you do with your child to get a certificate, but you will find you will want to do the work and more. On receiving my certificate it gave me great pleasure in realising what me and Joseph had achieved by doing Share.

What else would you like to say about Share?

Share is a very good course to go on. It has helped both Joseph and I in loads of ways. But mainly for me to understand what Joseph is being taught and most importantly how he is being taught at school. Before I started Share I was teaching Joseph the way I was taught but things have changed. Now I realise I was confusing Joseph rather than helping him. If there is a Share group going on in your area I would definitely recommend it. Share was certainly a big eye opener for me!

Joseph has told me that he really enjoyed Share. He enjoyed making and doing the share activities. He has had more fun playing our home-made activities rather than our shop-brought games.

Now let us know what you think about Share!