| Activities | Description | Mental Health Research | Building Community |
|
| Flag | Each family unit creates a family flag to set on their family table for 8 weeks. Parents are in charge of the process in which each family member adds to the flag. | Alexander and Parsons, 1982; Minuchin, 1979. | Each family makes a flag within a community context of approximately 60 people; the flag becomes an identity for the family within the FAST community. |
| Music | Participants sing the FAST song. Families are invited to bring songs to teach others; school songs can be shared. | Pianta, Egeland, and Stroufe, 1998. | Everyone sings the FAST song together; sharing music builds community. |
| Meal | A host family, who won the lottery the lottery the week before, receives money to buy food, plans a menu, and prepares a meal for 12 families and the FAST team. The family is thanked. Staff members help children show respect for parents by serving dinner. | Dunst, Trivette, and Deal, 1988; Minuchin, 1979. | Each family hosts a meal. This builds feelings of mutual and shared responsibilities. |
| Scribbles | This drawing and talking game is played with one's own family. Parents are in charge of taking turns and asking positive questions. | Alexander and Parsons, 1982; Lewis et al., 1976; Pianta, Egeland, and Stroufe, 1988; Minuchin, 1979; Schedler and Block, 1990. | Each family plays at its table within the context of a larger community. Play and fun are emphasized. Support from the FAST team is offered as needed. |
| Feelings Charades | Participants play-act, guess, and talk about feelings with their families. The parents are in charge of taking turns. | Alexander and Parsons, 1982; Lewis et al., 1976; Pianta, Egeland, and Stroufe, 1988; Schedler and Block, 1990; Werner and Smith, 1992. | Sharing feelings in one's own family and sharing with other FAST families builds community. Support from the FAST team is offered as needed. |
| Kid's Play | These developmentally appropriate organized activities offer children positive peer group experiences. No television is allowed. | Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Minuchin, 1979; Rutter, 1983. | Time for hanging out together, having fun, and developing a peer network emphasizes friendship in a community. |
| Parents' Talk in Buddy Time and Self-Help Group | One-to-one adult time for private communications is followed by a self-help parent group. Parents share their own successes and help one another help their children succeed in school. Informal social-support networks emerge. | Alexander and Parsons, 1982; Belle, 1980; Cochran, 1992; Dunst, Trivette, and Deal, 1988; Gilligan, 1982; Gottlieb, 1985; Hill, 1958; Lewis et al., 1976; McCubbin and Patterson, 1983; Minuchin, 1979; Pianta, Egeland, and Stroufe, 1988; Solomon, 1985; Wahler, 1983; Werner and Smith, 1992. | Parents makes friends and find their peers to be supportive and wise. Parents build a local association of interdependent families. FAST professionals serve as backup support. |
| Parent-Child Time: Special Play | Special Play is child-initiated play whereby the parent is coached to follow the child's lead and not to teach, direct, or judge the child. Play materials are provided. | Barkeley, 1987; Garbarino, 1987; Guerney, 1977; Kogan, 1980; Minuchin, 1979; Schedler and Block, 1990, Webster-Stratton, 1991. | Parent-child pairs play together within a context of a community of other pairs. |
| Lottery (fixed) | Each family wins once. The winning family is showcased, and members receive various prizes. The winner cooks the next week's meal. | Dunst, Trivette, and Deal, 1988; Hill, 1958; McCubbin and Patterson, 1983; Minuchin, 1979. | Parents know that winning is universal and fair. Cooking the following week's meal models reciprocity. |
| Closing Circle | All participants gather into a large circle for special announcements, clapping, singing for birthdays, etc. A final ritual of nonverbal movements is passed around the circle in silence, making sounds of rain followed by a sun emerging in the group. | Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Epstein, 1995; Hill, 1958; Minuchin, 1979. | This builds community by sharing local information, celebrating special events, and having traditions with all ages and families, neighbors, schools, and professionals joining together in a circle. |
| Daily Homework for Parents' Special Play | Parents are expected to do Special Play every day at home as "homework." A behavior chart and stickers are given to each parent. | Barkeley, 1987; Guerney, 1977; Kogan, 1980; Patterson, 1975; Schedler and Block, 1990 Webster-Stratton, 1991. | This maintains a FAST community of caring for the next generation and helps parents and children support each other. |
| Graduation (eighth session) | The ceremony is held at school to graduate 10-12 entire families. Guests are invited by the families, and the school principal gives each family a framed certificate of completion. Graduation hats and a recording of "Pomp and Circumstance" add to this celebration, foreshadowing high school graduation. | Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Epstein, 1995. | The ceremony is a community celebration of family achievements with informal and formal supports together. The graduation party brings the larger community together with shared experiences to remember. |
| FASTWORKS (2 Years) | FASTWORKS holds monthly meetings for 2 years in which parents determine the agendas, receive a small budget, and get support from the school. Parents may choose more training or outings. | Alinsky, 1971; Freire, 1995; Hill, 1958; Horton, 1990; McKnight, 1995; Solomon, 1976; Wahler, 1983. | An association of parents bgins to express its own unique agenda with the school and community, with a positive unified voice and informal social support. |
