CHAPTER 9 “Developing family and community relationships” Margaret Vivian Liu ECC 716 Sec. 002

Learning Lesson Including… CHAPTER 9 “Enhancing Practice with Infants and Toddlers from Diverse Language and Cultural Backgrounds” “Cultivating Good Relationships with Families Can Make Hard Times Easier!”

Establishing Reciprocal Relationships With Families The Importance of School – Home Partnerships Creating a mutual respect, cooperation, shared responsibilities, and negotiation of conflicts.

The Importance of School – Home Partnerships Research shows that children are more likely to perform better when school and families work well together. Students benefit in grades, test scores, attitudes toward schoolwork, behavior, homework completion, and attendance rates. Parent partnership in children's learning is positively related to achievement.

Cultivating A Positive Relationship Working in a collaborative partnership with families, establishing and maintaining regular, frequent two way communication with them creates a positive experience for teachers and families. Use Support to Creative Positivity Creating a program that links families with a range of services, based on identified resources, properties, and concerns.

What are some activities to promote parent – school interactions and involvement?

Activities to Promote Parent – School Interactions and Involvement Create Detailed Student Information Sheets Send Out Parent Surveys Make Open House a Special Event Utilize Technology Whenever Possible (i.e. emails, phone calls, class webpage) Establish an Open Door Policy Helping Hands (i.e. book sales, bake sales, volunteer tutoring, field trips, holiday parties) School Wide Presentations (Kindergarten Family Science Expo)

Activities to Promote Parent – School Interactions and Involvement Establish regular, meaningful communication between home and school (i.e. morning greetings, goodbyes) Send home notes (i.e. contact with good news regularly) Parent Occupation Presentations - Invite parents to attend school to deliver a presentation about their career and responsible duties. This encourages active parent participation in students learning. Weekly Parent Reading - Invite parents to read a story to the class on a weekly basis. Schedule one parent per week on a specific day so the children can look forward to a class guest.

What are some ways that parents and teachers can communicate with each other, rather than relying on the scheduled parent- teacher conferences?

Parents – Teachers Communications Make the first contact with parents a positive one. Parent Group Meetings Communicate with parents straightforwardly and simply, avoiding educational "jargon.“ Ask parents to share their concerns and opinions about school, and then address those concerns. Phone conferences Weekly Notes (i.e. preprinted with fill-in-the- blank type messages) Weekly Work Folders Special event notices. Face-to-face conferences. Report cards. Weekly Newsletters Suggestions Box (i.e. how to help children at home and at school)

Parent – Teacher Conferences Meeting with parents can be an extremely stressful situation for new and young teachers especially for those with language barriers. How can we as teachers enhance language barriers for parents and students in conferences and in the classroom?

Creating Cultural Classrooms Creating a word and phrase bank for each language to easily communicate important topics so you can be clear and brief. Find out what is important to them. Be creative, use technology and music as a comforter. Invite those parents to spend time in the classroom as their child integrates so you can understand non verbal cues well. Represent the culture in the classroom, invite parents to share.

Make the most of your conference 

Strategies For Conferences Invite both parents Make contact early Allow enough time Be ready for questions Get your papers organized in advance Plan ahead Greet parents near the door Stay calm Open on a positive note Be specific Offer a suggested course of action Ask for parents opinion Focus on strengths Stress collaboration Ask about child Listen to what the parents have to say Focus on solutions Summarize Use empathy Ask wandering questions Wind up on a positive note Meet again if you need to Keep a record of the conference

How to Prepare for a P/T Conference http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlmvU-YjsaM

Role – Play Given your setting, role-play the parent-teacher confrontational exchanges. In groups of two, select someone to role-play the teacher and the parent. Discuss the scenario. What are some tips that can help your parent meetings be successful? Share.