YOU Can Help Make A Difference!
Have you ever thought about how involved you are in your child’s education? Have you ever realized how many hours your child spends away from you and your home in school? Parental involvement in the classroom is a vital key to success within each individual student in regards to developing a well structured self and progress and excellence in educational aspects as well. In specific research done by Heward (2003) there are four arguments presented that support the importance of active parental involvement in their children’s education:
1. Families know aspects of their children’s needs better than anyone else.
2. Families have the greatest vested interest in seeing their children learn.
3. The family is likely to be the only group of adults involved with a child’s educational program throughout the child’s entire school career.
4. Families are the ones who live with the outcomes of decisions made by school personnel every day.
With this being said, it can be easier said than done for you parents to not only realize the importance of your presence within your child’s education, but for the actual presence to be more than just that- to be meaningful. I would like nothing more as your child’s educator for all of my student’s parents to join me in shaping and building the futures of each of these individual children! We can all work together in doing this, and there are many ways to do so!
References:
Kai Yung (Brian), T., & Heng, M. (2005). A Case Involving Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Parents in Prereferral Intervention. Intervention In School & Clinic, 40(4), 222-230.
Specific Ideas for Parents to Get Involved in the Classroom:
1. Beginning of the quarter meetings.
a. Meetings will be held for you as a whole group the first Thursday of each quarter!
b. Come see what your child is learning this quarter and learn about upcoming big events, field trips, and dates to come in and participate in our lessons!
2. Individual counseling sessions with appointments.
a. Great for you working parents.
b. I am available by email or phone to set up an appointment!
c. My best days are Thursday afternoons from 3:30-6:30 pm.
d. I can be flexible with hours and days! I am here to assist you and your child in any way that I possibly can.
3. Volunteer!
a. I am always open to parent volunteers within my classroom!
b. You can contact me via email or phone and set up a day where you would like to come in and help in our classroom!
4. How you can Volunteer
a. Come in during lunch time and be a lunch monitor! Parents come do this several days a week, or even just once in a while. The kids really enjoy seeing you here, and we enjoy the extra helping hands!
b. Help out with Open House night! I am always looking for volunteers to help set up your child’s work throughout the classroom!
c. Join the PTA! The PTA is all about being involved!
d. Help plan school fieldtrips & chaperone to enjoy the experience with your child! We would all love to have your help!
5. Ways to be involved at home
a. Write me notes in your child’s planner! I frequently will jot down some notes myself! It is an easy, quick way of keeping track of their behavior and homework at the same time!
b. Create a progress journal! Make learning interesting and fun for your children. Ask them one thing they learned about that day, and encourage them to write about it so that you can write back to them later on! They will look forward to your responses! Trust me!
c. Converse with members of the PTA and set up study groups with your children! They are all learning the same things, and sometimes children can explain it to each other in better terms! Hey- it’s worth a shot!
d. Read with your child! Bedtime stories never get old. J
References:
Becker, C. (2008). Involving parents:so valuable, no so easy!.New Teacher Advocate,
Reilly, E. (2008). Parental Involvement Through Better Communication. Middle School Journal, 39(3), 40-47.
Strategies for Reading Cross Cultural Barriers for ELLs.
I would like to get to know more about the culture of my students and their family members! Research has shown that children from diverse cultural backgrounds tend to do better in school when the gap between culture at home and in school is filled with the team efforts of the parents and school profesionals alike! (NW Regional Labratory School Improvement Series).Please feel free to come in and share with the class a little about your culture! We will be holding a culture day an hour before school starts at the beginning of each quarter! I want all the students to hear about the variety of cultures among them every day! Please do not be shy in coming to me with questions- because I may have questions for you as well! Translators can be provided upon request for individual meetings with me or school administrators. Contact information for these translators will be provided upon request. Additional information that requires translation may also be given upon request. I am here to help or assist you and your child in every way that I can. I am as open to learning about your culture as I am to your child learning as much as they possibly can within my classroom!
References:
Effects of parent involvement on student achievement NW Regional Laboratory School Improvement Research Series, DOI: www.nwrel.org/scpd.sirs/3/cu6.html
1. Families know aspects of their children’s needs better than anyone else.
2. Families have the greatest vested interest in seeing their children learn.
3. The family is likely to be the only group of adults involved with a child’s educational program throughout the child’s entire school career.
4. Families are the ones who live with the outcomes of decisions made by school personnel every day.
With this being said, it can be easier said than done for you parents to not only realize the importance of your presence within your child’s education, but for the actual presence to be more than just that- to be meaningful. I would like nothing more as your child’s educator for all of my student’s parents to join me in shaping and building the futures of each of these individual children! We can all work together in doing this, and there are many ways to do so!
References:
Kai Yung (Brian), T., & Heng, M. (2005). A Case Involving Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Parents in Prereferral Intervention. Intervention In School & Clinic, 40(4), 222-230.
Specific Ideas for Parents to Get Involved in the Classroom:
1. Beginning of the quarter meetings.
a. Meetings will be held for you as a whole group the first Thursday of each quarter!
b. Come see what your child is learning this quarter and learn about upcoming big events, field trips, and dates to come in and participate in our lessons!
2. Individual counseling sessions with appointments.
a. Great for you working parents.
b. I am available by email or phone to set up an appointment!
c. My best days are Thursday afternoons from 3:30-6:30 pm.
d. I can be flexible with hours and days! I am here to assist you and your child in any way that I possibly can.
3. Volunteer!
a. I am always open to parent volunteers within my classroom!
b. You can contact me via email or phone and set up a day where you would like to come in and help in our classroom!
4. How you can Volunteer
a. Come in during lunch time and be a lunch monitor! Parents come do this several days a week, or even just once in a while. The kids really enjoy seeing you here, and we enjoy the extra helping hands!
b. Help out with Open House night! I am always looking for volunteers to help set up your child’s work throughout the classroom!
c. Join the PTA! The PTA is all about being involved!
d. Help plan school fieldtrips & chaperone to enjoy the experience with your child! We would all love to have your help!
5. Ways to be involved at home
a. Write me notes in your child’s planner! I frequently will jot down some notes myself! It is an easy, quick way of keeping track of their behavior and homework at the same time!
b. Create a progress journal! Make learning interesting and fun for your children. Ask them one thing they learned about that day, and encourage them to write about it so that you can write back to them later on! They will look forward to your responses! Trust me!
c. Converse with members of the PTA and set up study groups with your children! They are all learning the same things, and sometimes children can explain it to each other in better terms! Hey- it’s worth a shot!
d. Read with your child! Bedtime stories never get old. J
References:
Becker, C. (2008). Involving parents:so valuable, no so easy!.New Teacher Advocate,
Reilly, E. (2008). Parental Involvement Through Better Communication. Middle School Journal, 39(3), 40-47.
Strategies for Reading Cross Cultural Barriers for ELLs.
I would like to get to know more about the culture of my students and their family members! Research has shown that children from diverse cultural backgrounds tend to do better in school when the gap between culture at home and in school is filled with the team efforts of the parents and school profesionals alike! (NW Regional Labratory School Improvement Series).Please feel free to come in and share with the class a little about your culture! We will be holding a culture day an hour before school starts at the beginning of each quarter! I want all the students to hear about the variety of cultures among them every day! Please do not be shy in coming to me with questions- because I may have questions for you as well! Translators can be provided upon request for individual meetings with me or school administrators. Contact information for these translators will be provided upon request. Additional information that requires translation may also be given upon request. I am here to help or assist you and your child in every way that I can. I am as open to learning about your culture as I am to your child learning as much as they possibly can within my classroom!
References:
Effects of parent involvement on student achievement NW Regional Laboratory School Improvement Research Series, DOI: www.nwrel.org/scpd.sirs/3/cu6.html