New ways to enhance family engagement.Two recent (not more than 3 months old) pictures of families that are displayed. An example of something that tells parents about a staff member at the center.
REQUIRED ASSIGNMENTS: Assignment #1: Scavenger Hunt
Description: Reflecting on different family supports in which schools are already engaged helps you explore new ways to enhance family engagement.
Directions:
A. Create a scavenger hunt booklet. Provide documentation and description for each item found or identified. If an item was not identified or found, indicate so in writing.
In your school, identify the following items:
1. Two recent (not more than 3 months old) pictures of families that are displayed.
2. An example of something that tells parents about a staff member at the center.
3. An artifact that shows that families are appreciated at the program.
4. A way in which a welcoming environment has been created for families.
5. One person who knows the names of all the parents in one classroom.
6. Artifacts in the classroom environment, curriculum materials or school forms that recognizes the diversity of family structures (i.e., single parents, adopted or foster families, gay or lesbian parents, mothers and fathers, etc.).
7. Three people who talk to parents for more than 10 minutes each week.
8. A form of communication from a family member to the teacher or school administrator.
9. Something that a teacher did lately as a result of a parent request or suggestion.
10. Evidence of community resources being shared with families.
11. A memory that was created at the center that teachers and families still remember and cherish.
B. Write a reflection to include:
What is the school doing well? (S3d)
In what areas could the school improve family support and engagement? (S3d)
What did you learn about family support after completing this activity? (S3d)
New ways to enhance family engagement
What are the six components of family engagement?
Principles of Effective Practice
The problem of including families in their children’s learning and development is one that early childhood education programs must overcome.
This was the question that the NAEYC’s Engaging Diverse Families (EDF) programme set out to address. The project’s objectives were to create a definition of family engagement grounded in research, identify exemplary family engagement practices in early childhood programs, and share what was discovered with the early care and education community by putting together a toolkit of resources to assist programs in more successfully involving families in young children’s learning.NAEYC and Pre-K Now conducted a thorough evaluation of the research on family engagement and discovered that effective family engagement approaches in programs include the following six principles:
What does it mean to engage families?
What is Family Engagement?
In the context of K–12 education, “family engagement” refers to the process of schools and families collaborating and supporting one another to assist a child’s learning and overall development. In the past, the terms “family engagement” and “parent engagement” have been used interchangeably. However, the phrase “family involvement” is increasingly frequently used to refer to this practice.
The U.S. Department of Education, NAFSCE, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York all contributed to the aforementioned definition of family participation. The term “family” refers to all grownups who engage with a kid in a school setting, including the child’s biological, adoptive, and foster parents, grandparents, formal and unofficial guardians, and older siblings.
Ways to engage family members
Ways to Engage Families at Home
One of the obstacles to family involvement in their children’s education is that families frequently lack the knowledge necessary to get involved1. Parents that are committed to parent involvement are actively assisted in learning various methods to get involved by teachers and schools. Families’ assistance with homework is correlated with student achievement. Families may help youngsters with academic subjects like reading, writing, and math while also encouraging the development of their native language at home.
One is Delgado-Gaitan (1991).
For instance, see Van Voorhis, 2003; Sheldon & Epstein, 2005
Creating an environment for learning at home
Assist your students’ families in developing homework habits. Location, space, time, and schedule are at least four of the most crucial aspects to take into account. You can help in this area by doing things like:
During your Open House presentation, go over your homework policies and expectations. Have examples of the types of assignments you frequently assign to your students in the various topic areas, if at all possible. This will help in performing good parent teacher conferences practise.
Inform families on how they can assist their children with their schoolwork on a regular basis in tiny doses. You may include a “homework tips” section in your weekly newsletter, for instance.
Take a survey of students’ and families’ homework routines. Recognize what is working effectively and work together with the students’ families to make these routines better.
What does it mean to engage families?
Engaging the Family
Building healthy and goal-oriented connections between early childhood professionals, families, and kids is made possible through family engagement, a collaborative and strengths-based process. Families and staff members at all levels must cooperate and appreciate one another’s duties and comparative advantages.
Family involvement emphasizes developing relationships with significant family members who are culturally and linguistically responsive in a child’s life. Moms, fathers, grandparents, and other adult caregivers are among these individuals, as are expectant mothers and expectant families.
It necessitates a dedication to forging and maintaining an ongoing cooperation that promotes the welfare of families. Additionally, it respects and encourages the parent-child bonds that are essential to a child’s healthy growth, preparedness for school, and overall wellbeing.
The Parent, Family, and Community Participation Framework for Office of Head Start serves as a manual for understanding how family engagement fosters good, long-lasting change for children, families, and communities.
Why Are Family-School Partnerships Important?
What are Family-School & Community Partnerships?
Partnerships between families and schools are cooperative connections and activities including teachers, parents, and other family members of students. Mutual trust and respect, as well as shared accountability for the school’s students’ education, are the cornerstones of successful partnerships.
Why Are Family-School Partnerships Important?
Families are the first teachers of their children, and they continue to have an impact on their learning and development both during and beyond the school year. Families entrust schools to provide the educational groundwork for their children’s future as part of their vital obligation to nurture and educate future generations. Schools must simultaneously acknowledge that the family plays the primary role in a child’s education. Because of this, collaboration between families and schools is crucial.
Research shows that strong parental and community involvement is a key component of successful schools. The improvement in student learning, attendance, and behavior is directly proportional to this involvement.
Regardless of the social or cultural background of the student, family participation can have a significant impact on their learning.
Therefore, a key component of a high-quality education and a core function of schools is family involvement in the classroom.
The Family-School & Community Partnerships Bureau’s mission is to promote strong relationships between teachers, parents, and students, as well as between them and other members of the school community.
These collaborations ought to:
recognizing that each partner contributes in a valuable way while acknowledging that each partner’s contribution is unique; respecting the needs and preferences of students; addressing barriers to Indigenous families’ involvement in schools; actively assisting previously uninvolved families to become involved; improving programs, opportunities, and learning for students; providing families with appropriate opportunities to participate in school decision-making and governance; and contribute to professional satisfaction for principals and teachers.
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Jung, S. B., & Sheldon, S. (2020). Connecting Dimensions of School Leadership for Partnerships with School and Teacher Practices of Family Engagement. School Community Journal, 30(1), 9-32. | |
Cooper, C. W. (2009). Parent involvement, African American mothers, and the politics of educational care. Equity & Excellence in education, 42(4), 379-394.
Haynes, Norris M., and James P. Comer. “Integrating schools, families, and communities through successful school reform: The school development program.” School Psychology Review 25.4 (1996): 501-506.
Senisl, Ehnlter-J. Ellen B. “www. naeyc. org.”