I’ve been working on it for months, and I hope it will be a useful and meaningful tool for you to use this coming school year. The more I study the research, the more I realize how critical it is to reach out to parents and involve them in their child’s education. I also know that you do not need one more thing to deal with! So, I’ve tried to make it easy for you with lots of reproducibles that you can send home each month throughout the year. You can easily adapt these activities to meet the specific needs of your students or your curriculum goals. Use one of the ideas or all of them. It’s a free buffet!
I know you often worry about the parents you are not able to engage. Focus on the positive instead of the negative. If you have one parent who sings a song, reads a book, or makes something with their child because of you, that’s a good thing! Being teachers is like throwing pebbles in a pond. You just never know how far the ripples from the pebbles are going to go. I hope there are lots of ripples from schools to homes with these activities!
As always, I want to give a special thanks to all of the teachers who shared these ideas!
WHY? Parents are a child’s first and most important teachers, and they can be valuable partners in their child’s education. The earlier in a child’s educational process the parents get involved, the more powerful the effects. The National Coalition for Parent Involvement for Education reports that when schools and families work together, everyone benefits.
A study by the Michigan Department of Education reported that parents’ participation in their child’s education was twice as predictive of students’ academic success as family socioeconomic status.
It takes a village to raise a child. A “village” of parents, grandparents, teachers, relatives, friends, community leaders, neighbors, bus drivers, physicians, and a myriad of others who add to the tapestry of their lives. We can’t do it alone, but if we hold hands and stick together like we tell the children to do, then we can create happy memories that will give children the roots to live a good life and wings to create a bright future.
This month you will find a resource guide with pathways and activities to engage families in their child’s education. We must help parents believe that they can make a difference, and we must provide them with the tools and skills they need to contribute to their child’s growth and development. Above all, we must do all we can to make families feel welcome and needed!
This “Parent Power Pak” is divided into three sections:
WHEN? Monthly newsletters, reading calendars, “recipes for fun,” and great opportunities for families to have quality time as they play and learn.
WHAT? Resource of engaging activities to strengthen the bridge between the school and home. From brain tickets to lunchbox homework, you will find simple and practical ideas to integrate into your program.
HOW? Ideas for building relationships, open communication, and volunteer opportunities.