Engaging Families: HomeSchool Connections Module II

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Engaging Families Home-School ConnectionsModule
II

• Strategies for Engaging Families

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• Engaging Families Home-School Connections
• United Federation of Teachers Teacher Center
• New York City Regional School Support Center
• New York State Education Department
• Developed and written by
• Miriam Beverly, Karen Butler-Brock, Tisha Hinds,
• Mary Madden, Karen Millard, Esta Newman, UFT
  Teacher Center
• Jan Atwell,
• United Parents Associations of New York City,
  Inc.
• Edited by Bea Carson
• Coordinated by
• Theresa Mehrer and Carol Haupt
• A UFT Teacher Center PowerPoint Publication

Aminda Gentile Director
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Engaging Families Home-School Connections
Core Belief
All parents care about their children.
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Strategies for Engaging FamiliesAgenda

• Read Aloud
• Paradigm Shift
• Ball Toss/Brainstorm Barriers to Parent
  Involvement
• Activity Schoolhouse Creating a Family-Friendly
  School Environment
• Resources Review, Q A
• Scenarios
• Journal Writing

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Strategies for Engaging Families

• Read Aloud
• Cartoon Strip

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Strategies for Engaging Families

• Paradigm Shift Then and Now
• Think back to your own childhood.
• How were parents/families involved in your
  school?
• What does it look like now?

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Strategies for Engaging Families Share Out
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Strategies for Engaging Families

• Ball Toss
• Barriers to Parent Involvement
• Toss ball and call out barrier.

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Strategies for Engaging Families

• Activity Schoolhouse
• Creating a Family-Friendly School
• Environment
• What does a family-friendly environment
• look like?

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Strategies for Engaging FamiliesThe School

• Schoolhouse
• What should be happening in this school to
• create a family-friendly environment?

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Strategies for Engaging Families

• Resource Review, Q A
• What are some successful strategies you have
• used to engage parents/families in schools?

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Strategies for Engaging Families 10 Truths of
Parent Involvement
1. All Parents have hopes and goals for their
children. They differ in how they support their
childrens efforts to achieve those goals.

• From Southwest Educational Development
  Laboratory (SEDL).
• Used by permission.

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Strategies for Engaging Families 10 Truths of
Parent Involvement
2. The home is one of several spheres that
simultaneously influence a child. The school
must work with other spheres for the childs
benefit, not push them apart.
- From Southwest Educational Development
Laboratory (SEDL). Used by permission.
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Strategies for Engaging Families 10 Truths of
Parent Involvement
3. The parent is the central contributor to a
childs education. The school can either co-opt
that role or recognize the role of the parent.
- From Southwest Educational Development
Laboratory (SEDL). Used by permission.
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Strategies for Engaging Families 10 Truths of
Parent Involvement
4. Parent involvement must be a legitimate
element of education. It deserves equal emphasis
with elements such as program improvement and
evaluation.
- From Southwest Educational Development
Laboratory (SEDL). Used by permission.
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Strategies for Engaging Families 10 Truths of
Parent involvement
5. Parent involvement is a process not a program
of activities. It requires ongoing
energy and effort.
- From Southwest Educational Development
Laboratory (SEDL). Used by permission.
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Strategies for Engaging Families 10 Truths of
Parent Involvement
6. Parent involvement requires a vision, a policy
and a framework. Consensus is important.
- From Southwest Educational Development
Laboratory (SEDL). Used by permission.
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Strategies for Engaging Families 10 Truths of
Parent Involvement
7. Parents interaction with their own children
is the cornerstone of parent involvement. A
program must recognize the value, diversity and
difficulty of this role.
- From Southwest Educational Development
Laboratory (SEDL). Used by permission.
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Strategies for Engaging Families 10 Truths of
Parent Involvement
8. Most barriers to parent involvement are found
within school practices. They are not found
within parents.
- From Southwest Educational Development
Laboratory (SEDL). Used by permission.
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Strategies for Engaging Families 10 Truths of
Parent Involvement
9. Any parent can be hard to reach. Parents
must be identified and approached individually
they are not defined by gender, ethnicity, family
situation, education or income.
- From Southwest Educational Development
Laboratory (SEDL). Used by permission.
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Strategies for Engaging Families 10 Truths of
Parent Involvement
10. Successful parent involvement nurtures
relationships and partnerships. It strengthens
bonds between home and school, parent and
educator, parent and child and school and
community.
- From Southwest Educational Development
Laboratory (SEDL). Used by permission.
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Strategies for Engaging Families

• Scenario
• Read scenario and then discuss.

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Strategies for Engaging Families

• Scenario
• A student in your class comes to school late at
• least two or three times per week. When he
  arrives at
• school, he is not prepared with assignments or
• homework. On many occasions he falls asleep in
• class.
• When he is in class and prepared, however, he
• performs at the top of the class. You have an
• appointment to meet with his parent. What will
• your approach be?

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Strategies for Engaging Families

• Journal Writing
• Think about how your initial assumptions
• affected your approach to this scenario.
• Write about what strategies you could have
• used to discover the reason behind the
• situation. Would you have handled the
• situation differently?

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Engaging Families Home-School Connections
Core Belief
All parents care about their children.
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Strategies for Engaging Families

• Additional Handouts in Hardcopy
• Ten Truths of Parent Involvement
• Family Involvement Ideas and Strategies
• Tips for Building Trust
• Ten Ways to Participate in Your Children's
  Education (English and Spanish)
• Smiling Schoolhouse

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• Schoolhouse

Welcome Parents!