Chapter 10 focuses on family literacy partnerships. One section that interested me was to to involve families in your literacy program: what teachers can do for all parents. I was interested in this section because it is important that teachers view parents as partners in the development of literacy and be responsible to inform families on a regular basis about what is happening in school and how they can help their child. The book says that teachers need to involve family members in activities at home and in school and make them feel like partners in the education of their child. I think this extremely important. It is crucial that teachers have the parents trust and make them aware of what is going on in their child's life at school. By making the parents feel comfortable enough to talk and share feelings can allow for an open relationship will give parents the opportunity to give input about what they would like their child to learn, to express how they feel about what happens in school, and to offer suggestions.The parents will also feel safe enough when they talk to the teacher to let them know if when they have different feelings.
The textbook also listed several suggestions about ways to make families an integral part of the school. The suggestions listed on page 436 all have something to do with including families helping and watching the student as he/she does his/her homework. One suggestion I found extremely important is to send home notes when a child is doing well. Don't wait to send notes just for problems. I think it is important to get parents on the educators side so that there is a good relationship and communication between parent and teacher. The book suggested that family members should be invited to school to participate with their children in literacy activities. I recently talked to a teacher at a daycare and her child attends a school near by. The teacher and I talked about how parents come into the daycare and talk to teachers and they are comfortable with one another, but the teacher then said that she has not talked or heard from her daughters teacher and that they do not have a relationship. Instead, the daycare teacher that I talked to said that she can check her child's behavior on an app and see if she has good point or bad points.
This section in chapter 10 focused mostly on including families in the child's school life. Instead of just having the parents involved in the child's academic life at home, I think it is important that parents are involved in the school as well. Having family involvement activities several times a year is a great way to provide opportunities for children to bond with their own families and other families. The book gave some examples: theme night, cooking night, book sharing evenings, sharing family photos, or having a family fun night. Schools in my area have a family fun night once a year on a Friday night. During this time families come to the school and participate in games and different events.
I agree with you Brooke. I do think that it is a great opportunity to include the parents in their child's education. Something the i think is wonderful is having students take home a short book each night to read. The goal is that their parents help them read through the story, showing the child that at school and home everyone is encouraging and supports them to learn. I understand that some children don't have their parents helping them at home. Even if this is the case sending a book home with a child never hurts. Even if the child reads through the story the best they can by themselves they are still practicing and learning on their own. I agree though we should defiantly include the parents in their child's education more often.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your statement that teachers should view parents as partners in the development of literacy, but I can see where this could be difficult to establish. Some parents are afraid of school because of a bad personal experience and others are just busy. But if we as teachers are able to start off the school year by building relationships with each and every family and letting them know that we are here to assist them in anyway possible, hopefully they will be more open minded when it comes to building that teacher/parent partnership. I also agree that it is crucial for teachers to have our parents trust so that they know their children are in great hands, but once again this can be difficult to establish. As this chapter mentioned several times, involving the parents in the classroom is one way to build these partnerships. Getting them connected and in the school as much as possible is a great way for them to be involved in their child’s education.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Brooke! I like how you talked about the importance of making parents feel comfortable to come to the teacher if they are having difficulties or for anything educational really. Parents are their child's first teacher. They should be viewed as resources to us because they know their child better than anyone. Not only will this help the communication, it will also help your instruction in how you teach the child. Many parents will give us helpful ideas about how their children work best or how to accomodate their needs. This comfort will also transfer to their involvement levels with their children at home and willingness to volunteer at school. This constant communication will show the student that not only reading is valued but their personal development as well.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with this post. I believe that as teachers it is very important to include parents in their child’s education. This would be hard to establish in a classroom where parents are not use to having this type of involvement with their child education. I think as teachers it is our job to allow parents to be as involved as they want to/can be. It is also important to set up a line of communication the first time you meet the parent. Teachers need to find out the best way to contact families instead of always sending emails or letters home. This is a great starting point to getting parents to be more involved in the classroom. The saying goes, “Two heads are better than one” parents may have ideas for your classroom that would benefit not only their child but also others in your class. Accept these ideas and see if they would work in your classroom.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you say it is important to send home notes when a child is doing well and not only when there are behavioral or academic issues. How can teachers create a positive relationship when they are only reaching out to parents with bad news? I also agree that it is crucial to involve the students families in the school, especially in the classroom. Every student's family has their own plate to offer to the classroom, in order to find out what families are "professionals" at, you must get to know them. Students love when special guests come in the classroom and teach the class, so if you are doing a unit on flowers, bring in a parent that is really interested in gardening and see what that person can share to the classroom. Other parents may not want to necessarily teach something to the class, but maybe you want a new rocking chair and one of your student's family members is a great woodworker! Take advantage of the things parents can offer to the class!
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