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smalltalk ManualSection 9 smalltalk in Remote Playgroups

smalltalk is supported by the Victorian Government

[email protected] www.smalltalk.net.au

Parenting Research Centre

www.parentingrc.org.au

©Parenting Research Centre, 2012 Created October 2020

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FACILITATOR MANUAL

Section 9

smalltalk in Remote Playgroups

smalltalk Manual | Section 9: smalltalk in Remote Playgroups 3

CONTENTS | SECTION 9: smalltalk in Remote Playgroups

Section 9: smalltalk in Remote Playgroups 5

Preparing to run remote groups 6

The smalltalk model 7

A flexible smalltalk model for remote delivery 8

Remote smalltalk components 9

Remote smalltalk checklist 10

Case studies 10

Other considerations 16


SECTION 9: smalltalk IN REMOTE PLAYGROUPS

ABOUT THIS RESOURCE

Social distancing and home learning have placed significant stresses on many families. This has presented them with a range of high-priority coping challenges. We know that at times of stress, parents find having a familiar, caring face showing an interest in them is valued. We also understand that at times like this, many families may have less mental space available to consider parent-child interactions and the home learning environment. Nevertheless, we know an enriching home life is likely to be more important than ever to the children we seek to support.

We believe parents and children are likely to benefit from a flexible application of the smalltalk model under these circumstances.

The flexible smalltalk model and materials described in this resource are designed to support you to facilitate smalltalk remotely. In this resource, ‘remote’ refers to any delivery of smalltalk that is not face-to-face. You may be using some (or all) of the following modes to share smalltalk with your families:

Web-based meeting apps such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams Closed/private groups or group messaging on platforms such as Facebook or WhatsApp Live streaming sessions using apps such as Facebook live Pre-recorded videos Phone calls SMS text messaging or MMS video/photo messaging Emails or e-newsletters

The information in this resource is intended to guide you through planning and preparing smalltalk sessions for remote groups. If you are not currently running groups remotely, but are maintaining one-on-one contact with families, you might consider whether these families could complete smalltalk home coaching sessions. Materials are available on the smalltalk Provider Area to support you to provide in-home support flexibly (https://www.smalltalk.net.au/wp-content/uploads/Flexible-in-home-support.pdf).

This resource limits itself to the way you, as a Supported Playgroup facilitator can introduce smalltalk to participating families within the context of a remote group. You’ll notice that we don’t focus on or give advice about to incorporate children and children’s play. These are the skills, knowledge and expertise you bring to your role.


https://www.smalltalk.net.au/wp-content/uploads/Flexible-in-home-support.pdf



PREPARING TO RUN REMOTE GROUPS

YOUR PREPARATION AS A FACILITATOR

Before running remote groups, familiarise yourself with the different technologies and modes of delivery available to you, and if possible, identify the main communication preferences of the families attending your supported playgroup. You may decide a combination of modalities will work best to reach the majority of your families, for example, a brief e-newsletter to all families, an online playgroup session for families that are interested, some check-in/catch-up phone calls to a small group of families, and home coaching.

The reality of the current situation is that many families who attend your face-to-face playgroup may not be engaging in remote sessions, and it may not be practical or feasible for you to follow them up individually. By having a clear, but limited, set of options available to families, you can get a better idea of what information the families are receiving, and how to direct your preparation and focus.

Before using your chosen videoconferencing platform or other apps, experiment with them, ideally by setting up practice interactions with colleagues. Make sure you’re aware of all the features of the apps in question, including ones you don’t intend to use. Consider whether there are things you don’t want families to do during a session and develop an approach to informing them of this and managing it if things do go wrong.

PREPARING FAMILIES FOR REMOTE GROUPS

Individual induction to playgroup - At the time of accepting a referral for a family you will need to make contact with the family to introduce yourself and explain about supported playgroups and smalltalk. This is also a good opportunity to describe the ways in which the group will be run remotely, including whether there are different options available, and find out what preferences the family may have around engaging remotely.

Introduce families to the remote format - To establish the remote format for playgroup and smalltalk, it’s important that all your families understand of how it will be run, including what options are available to them.

You may introduce families to the remote format by way of a brief phone call, or by practicing using the relevant apps/platforms with them. For example, if you’ll be running group sessions via Zoom, you might set up a Zoom meeting where you explain what your participating families can see on their screen, what each button does, when they should have themselves on mute, whether and how to use the chat box, etc. Similarly, if you’re planning to use an app like WhatsApp, you might call them on the phone and get them to practice sending you a text or voice message, attaching a file, switching between conversations, etc. Don’t assume parents know how to or are willing to use even common-place technology such as text messages and email. In the case of email, it’s a good idea to check they understand things like the difference between ‘reply’ and ‘reply all’, for example.


If families express misgivings about remote playgroups, help them to explore why and how you might help them to feel comfortable with the format. If you are providing different options or formats for remote groups, explain the options and the benefits of each. A side benefit of delivering smalltalk remotely is that it provides an opportunity to build families’ technology literacy, and their capacity to link with other services that might also be using ‘telepractice’ more.

Of course, not all families will want to participate in remotely delivered services, despite the benefits you outline. We encourage you leave the door open to participate in future if they choose, or to wait until in-person group participation is available again.

THE smalltalk MODEL

We know that returning to in-person playgroups is the desired outcome for many families. In the meantime, you can effectively share the smalltalk strategies with families remotely. You might find that some parts of the model are addressed more naturally in your interactions with families at this time, for example, supporting families to stay connected to the community, or encouraging parents to focus on their own mental health and wellbeing. Other parts of the model may require more considered planning for remote delivery, such as the child domains – ‘Quality Everyday Interactions’ and ‘Stimulating Environment’.


EnvironmentStimulating

InteractionsEverydayQuality

ConfidenceParenting

Care-Self Parent

Community and Services Connectedness

A FLEXIBLE SMALLTALK MODEL FOR REMOTE DELIVERY

The flexible smalltalk model is designed to capture the various components that are important when remotely sharing the weekly smalltalk strategies with families. We know that facilitators are delivering smalltalk remotely in many different ways, and that’s okay. The important thing is that the core content is delivered to families, and the flexible model and accompanying resources are intended to support this.

The model represents the various components for sharing weekly smalltalk topics with your families. Components are presented in a suggested order; however, you may prefer to adapt the order depending on the resources you have available to you, or to suit your families and their needs.

Remember - remote delivery of playgroups can be multimodal. You are not restricted to what can be done within a group session, and you can select and combine the modes that suit you. Using this model as a foundation, you might find that some components group easily together and can be delivered simply, for example, via a group text message or a short e-newsletter that introduces and demonstrates a new strategy with a link to a video, whereas other components may require more planning due to the way families engage with you remotely. Importantly, your overall aim is to introduce parents to the smalltalk content, and ensure they have an understanding of that content and how they might apply it in their own family circumstances.


Reflection and feedback

PracticeCheck

understanding

Identify topic of the week

Demonstrate

Establish what’s involved

Socialising with peersCheck in on how

they wentPrompt to apply in

daily life

Planning / goal-setting

EXPLAIN NEW STRATEGY

CONSOLIDATE STRATEGY

IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES TO APPLY STRATEGY

REMOTE SMALLTALK COMPONENTS

Identify the topic of the week - Signpost a specific smalltalk topic that you intend to work on. This focuses parents’ attention and supports their thinking around how to apply it. You may choose to change the order of smalltalk topics to reflect your groups interests and needs.

Explain how to do it - Describe what’s involved in this particular topic, including the skills and behaviours. Draw on existing knowledge and smalltalk materials.

Demonstrate - Parents need opportunities to observe the target smalltalk strategy in practice. This helps them understand the skills and behaviours and prompts their thinking about how they might do it themselves.

Check understanding - Don’t assume that parents have understood. Consider what process you might use to confirm their understanding. This could be simply asking each parent to explain the topic in their own words, or to describe examples of how they might apply it themselves.

Practice - Parents need to try applying what they’ve learned in a supportive context. This could be done in their own time, or during a group session or individual phone call, but it’s important that it’s purposeful. The parent needs to be conscious of what they're doing and why, and pay attention to how it goes. Here are some options:

If children are present, you could have parents practice with their own child; Parents could role-play the skill by pretending the camera is their child; You could set rehearsal as a task for parents to complete in their own time; You could send parents a message each week just reminding them to practice using the skill

discussed that week.

Reflection and feedback - Based on their practice, parents need to undertake some sort of evaluation of how it went. This consolidates their learning and helps them to strategise about future use. You can support the reflection and feedback process by asking for parents to share their reflections, and by providing supportive observations, particularly focused on identifying and reinforcing the strengths demonstrated by the parent.

Prompt to apply in daily life – Encourage parents to consider what would prompt them in the course of their daily life to apply the smalltalk topic. Ideally, the parent shouldn't be taken out of their daily routine to receive the prompt (or this should be minimised to the greatest extent possible). This helps parents to translate what they learn through facilitator support into their daily lives, without facilitator support. You can also consider how you might provide a reminder to parents between formal sessions, for example, via a text message.


Planning and goal-setting – Encourage parents to think ahead about when, where and how they will apply what they've learned.

Socialising with peers - Provide opportunities for parents to interact directly with each other to build connections and social supports. These opportunities might be formal (structured around a particular process or topic) or informal (free-flowing, unstructured); again, consider the preferences of your group participants and you consider to be achievable. Opportunities to interact could also be either through live groups or via group chats and private online groups.

Check in on how they went previously – Ask parents how they went with the goals they set for themselves over the previous week for using the smalltalk strategies. Did they use the strategy? What did they do? How did it go? And, if they didn’t, check to see what got in the way and do some problem-solving with them; discuss how they might prevent that from getting in the way next time.

OPTIONAL: Child play - Children may or may not be present during your remote group sessions. When they are present, it's worth considering their role and how involved you want them to be. Play opportunities may allow parents to be more involved and less distracted by a child who is doing something else. They may also provide opportunities for parents to practice smalltalk strategies and for the facilitator and other parents to observe.

REMOTE SMALLTALK CHECKLIST

The checklist (p. 17) was developed to support you with planning your remote delivery of smalltalk. The tool illustrates various modes of delivery that you can choose from to share a smalltalk topic with families over the course of a week. This is not an exhaustive list and you may find many other ways, too.

You can also use this as a self-reflection tool to identify which components you delivered, what went well, and what you could improve next time.

CASE STUDIES

For examples of how different modalities can be combined to share the weekly smalltalk strategies with families we have included four case studies. These case studies have been modelled off the many conversations we have had with facilitators about the approaches they have been using to deliver smalltalk remotely. Below is a summary of the case studies, each one is explored in more detail on the following pages.


Mary Ruth

SMS text message with link to smalltalk training videos and a video of herself explaining the topic ahead of time, at the start of the week

Live video weekly group (1 hour) for parents and children via MS Teams

Reminder of topic for the week Check for understanding Play activity with opportunity to

practice target skill Discussion of what they all liked

that they saw from other people

Live video group (half hour) on Mondays for just parents via Zoom to discuss topic for the week, check understanding, practice.

Parents invited to stay ‘on the line’ in Zoom afterwards to socialise

Live video group (half hour) on Thursdays for parents and children via Zoom. Check in on progress, child play, discussion of how to work smalltalk strategy of the week into the play activity

Katherine Annette

WhatsApp live meeting in groups of 3 parents (has found this number works best)

WhatsApp group messages to share topic of the week, videos

WhatsApp individual messages in between sessions to track parent goals and check in on how they went

Separate WhatsApp group channel for chat, socialising, sharing ideas/links they’ve found helpful, and peer support

Short e-newletter at start of week to introduce smalltalk topic, links to relevant smalltalk video

Closed Facebook group for socialising, sharing ideas/helpful links

Individual weekly phone call to each family (poor internet for her families)


Case study example 1: Mary

Sends SMS text message at start of week Names smalltalk topic Link to YouTube video of her explaining and

demonstrating Link to smalltalk videos

Runs live weekly groups for parents and children via MS Teams Social catch-up activity Checks in about how they went last week Asks what the topic of the week means to

them Asks them to show her on camera (with child

optional) Reinforces what they did well Asks them each to type into chat when they

think they’ll use it this week

Sends SMS text message to follow up and remind them to apply the smalltalk skill

“The groups are working well for my families. I find I can fit a lot in if I’m well prepared and move through activities quite quickly.”

MON Sends out SMS text message with topics and links

TUES Runs live group via MS Teams

WED Sends out SMS text message reminder

This is how Mary’s week looks on the flexible smalltalk model:



PracticeCheck

understanding


Demonstrate




daily life





SMS text message

SMS text message

MS Teams live meeting

Case study example 2: Ruth

Live video group (half hour) on Mondays for just parents via Zoom Discuss topic for the week Check understanding Practice

Parents invited to stay ‘on the line’ in Zoom afterwards to socialise

Live video group (half hour) on Thursdays for parents and children via Zoom Check in on progress Child play Discussion of how to work smalltalk skill of

the week into the play activity

“I found it works better if I can get some time with just the parents, even if it’s only half an hour, rather than trying to fit everything into one group call.”

MON Parent Zoom group (half hour)

THURS Parent + child Zoom group (half hour)

This is how Ruth’s week looks on the flexible smalltalk model:


Parent Zoom Meeting

Parent + Child Zoom Meeting


PracticeCheck

understanding


Demonstrate




daily life





Case study example 3: Katherine

Sends text message to WhatsApp group Shares topic of the week Uploads a relevant smalltalk video

WhatsApp live meeting in groups of 3 parents with children (has found this number works best) Asks for their reflections on smalltalk topic Asks if anyone wants to have a go at

practicing Provides positive reinforcement Runs a play activity

WhatsApp individual messages in between sessions Track parent goals Check in on how they went

Separate WhatsApp group channel for chat Socialising Sharing ideas/links they’ve found helpful Peer support

“I only get a few people in my groups. It seems to work well if I do it all in one place, including text messages, video call, and helping parents build connections.”

MON WhatsApp message to group with topics and links

TUES Runs live group straight from WhatsApp

WED Sends individual WhatsApp message to families

THURS Checks in on social WhatsApp group

This is how Katherine’s week looks on the flexible smalltalk model:


WhatsApp Group Chat

Live WhatsApp Group

Message to WhatsApp group


PracticeCheck

understanding


Demonstrate



they went Prompt to apply in daily life





WhatsApp messages to individual families

Case study example 4: Annette

Closed Facebook group Posts update with topic of the week and

smalltalk video, asks parent to comment with their plans and goals

Invites parents to post text or photos about what they’re doing this week, including practising smalltalk strategies

Posts update later in week to check in

Individual weekly phone call to each family (poor internet for her families) Checks their understanding of smalltalk

strategy Provides positive reinforcement for any use of

smalltalk strategies

“Many of my families have issues with internet connectivity, so they like to be able to access posts and links to videos when it suits them.”

MON Facebook post #1

TUES Individual brief phone calls

WED Facebook post #2

THURS Facebook post #3Individual brief phone calls

This is how Annette’s week looks on the flexible smalltalk model:


Calls to individual families

Facebook posts #1, #2 and #3 to closed group

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

INTERPRETERS

In groups where interpreters are required there are additional considerations around how you will structure and facilitate the group to suit the families involved. Overall, the smalltalk content you deliver won’t change as a result of interpreters being present, but the way in which you run the group will.

LIMITED ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY/CONNECTIVITY ISSUES

In your calls to families introducing the remote playgroup format, families may identify access to technology as a barrier to participating. Access to devices might be limited due to competing demands (home-schooling, working from home) and so consider providing families with information and resources they can access in their own time. This consideration may also apply in situations where families experience issues with internet connectivity. Between the family, the referrer and your team, there may be scope to problem-solve ways the family can overcome technology barriers.

RESPONSIVENESS TO FAMILY NEEDS

It can be important for you to remember the limits of what you are able to do to support families referred to Supported Playgroups. Many families may be experiencing a range of challenges and have



PracticeCheck

understanding


Demonstrate



they went Prompt to apply in daily life





more needs than is normally the case. Supported Playgroups can fill some of these needs and help families manage some of these challenges, but you may not be able do everything for them. A key aim of smalltalk and Supported Playgroups is connecting families to local services and building ‘their community’. Like everything else suggested in this resource, this can also be using multiple modalities.

OTHER RESOURCES

Flexible in-home support via smalltalk provider area (within Resources for Facilitators) Telepractice in parenting support via Parenting Research Centre

https://www.parentingrc.org.au/telepractice/ Playgroup Victoria https://www.playgroup.org.au/


https://www.parentingrc.org.au/telepractice/

Remote smalltalk checklist

Identify topic of the week Establish what’s involved Demonstrate Check understanding Practice

1 minute at start of live group

Text or WhatsApp message

Brief phone call beforehand

Facebook post

Zoom invitation with info and links

E-newsletter or email

5 minutes of live group

Pre-recorded video

Link to smalltalk video

E-newsletter or email with webpage link

Facebook post

Link to smalltalk video

Pre-recorded video

Live demonstration in group

SMS text message

WhatsApp text or voice message

Teach-back during live session

Structured activity with child during live group

In own time

Role-play during live group

Share brief video to WhatsApp or Facebook group

Reflection and feedback Planning/goal-setting Prompt to apply in daily life

Socialising with peers Check in on how they went

Verbal during live group

SMS text message


Comments in Facebook group

2 minutes each at the end of live group

SMS text message


Facebook group post

Reminder at end of live group

SMS text message


Brief phone call afterwards

Facebook group post

Catch-up at start of live group

Unsupervised break-outs in live group

Facebook group

WhatsApp group chat

Sharing of photos

Separate live video meeting

At start of live group

SMS or other text message

Discussion thread on Facebook

Discussion in WhatsApp group chat

Brief phone call


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