It is important to be clear about the purpose of parent involvement. Parent involvement is NOT about:
- Keeping parents happy or out of your hair.
- Tapping parent expertise.
- Getting volunteer help--or field trip chaperones.
- Getting votes for a school bond election.
- Fundraising.
- Building personal support for your leadership.
"The way schools care about children is reflected in the way schools care about the children's families.
If educators view children simply as students, they are likely to see the family as separate from the school. That is, the family is expected to do its job and leave the education of children to the schools.
If educators view students as children, they are likely to see both the family and the community as partners with the school in children's education and development."
~Dr. Joyce Epstein
Our schools alone cannot provide the complete education children must have.
Parent involvement is all about the children and making sure they receive the kind of education they deserve and must have.
At LES, we must help parents support learning at home. School parental involvement is not just at school. We must provide parent information on:
- creating a home environment that is conducive to learning
- monitoring children's homework and activities assigned for home
- at-home activities/projects that students and parents can do together to enrich learning
41 comments:
Parental involvement is crucial to the success of each students. The teacher, parent, and student must all be a part of the learning equation. I feel the LES is very proactive when including parents in their child's education. Weekly newsletters, conferences, workshops, and PTA meetings all give the parent insight and information of how to help their student achieve great success.
Our homework in 5th grade mirrors what we are learning in class. 4 Square and reading comprehension boosters provide problems and discussions for parents and their children to work through. Our Moodle also gives additional resources such as PowerPoints with vocabulary words and digital copies of Scholastic News.
In my classroom, planners are used daily and allow for parents to be informed of homework assignments, upcoming events, and quick communication notes. Also, MOODLE is accessible from home and contains supplemental support on lessons taught in the classroom. Recently, a book report was assigned as an "at-home" project that allowed parents the opportunity to assist their child in this particular learning experience. Math Fluency homework is sent home daily and reinforces math skills and acts as a guide for parents to be aware of what skills their child is working on currently.
At home parents help their children with Letter Naming Fluency, Nonsense Word Fluency, Phoneme Segmentation Fluency, sight words, math skills, and reading passages. When working with students in small group you can tell a big difference when parents have practiced these skills with students at home.
A list of activities that are sent home weekly include spelling dictation sentences, math problems similar to those introduced in class, vocabulary words to review, and a class website with many academic related enrichments.
Fifth grade teachers send home 4 Square math homework each night, a reading comprehension booster, student made vocabulary flashcards. Many of my students' parents use the tools we provide to assist their children with their academics.
Second grade students have fluency folders and Math homework to reinforce skills taught in class. Both fluency folders and Math homework assist the student to achieve greater success in those areas.
Activities I give to students are fluency folders, math homework, and math game ideas. The fluency folders include a "parent tips" section. This section includes helpful hints and strategies for parents to help their children become successful readers. Math homework is sent home daily and reinforces skills taught in class. The opposite side of the homework is the classwork. If parents have questions about what was taught in class or how to answer a particular question they can simply flip over to see how it was completed in class. Math game ideas were given out at our Parent Workshop and are used at the parents discretion.
In kindergarten, homework is given weekly. It addresses letter naming and sound fluency, initial sound fluency, nonsense words, and high frequency words. Children also visit the library each week and are able to check out books. Approximately 80% of my class participates.
Students are given weekly homework that addresses letter naming, initial sound, nonsense words, high frequency words, and reading decodable text. Students who complete their homework each night show great progress each week.
A weekly homework sheet is sent home with activities that include spelling dictation sentences, math problems similar to those introduced in class, vocabulary words to review, Moodle, and a class website with many academic related enrichments.
Students write down their nightly homework in their planner each day. Their parents look at the planner each night and sign it. They leave queations and/or comments in the planner for me when the need arises. I also send home a weekly note that lists upcoming events, tests, birthdays, IXL standards to work on, spelling words, and vocabulary words. Parents are better able to help their children when they are aware of what id going on in the classroom.
Parent involvement is so important for students. They need to have help at home and they need to feel like they have support. Our class has a Moodle page that we use daily. It is updated each week. It includes extra homework practice as well as activities at we are working on in class. Third grade also sends home a weekly newsletter that includes the homework for the week. It also lists upcoming events.
I provide student homework for select students to complete at home with their parents. I utilize planners for daily information.
We send home lessons and activities on our 4 square HW sheet that informs the parents of upcoming lessons. On the HW sheet, we include vocabulary, spelling, AMSTI Math, and Grammar.
In 3rd grade classes, students have a homework sheet/newsletter that is sent home each night. The homework is for practice in math, spelling, vocabulary and grammar. The grammar and math homework also contains examples and explanations on the skill we are studying. This can be a great help to inform and help explain Common Core strategies to parents. Moodle can also be used for additional practice in all of these skills and can be accessed at any time at home or an after school program.
Fluency folders and Rapid Word Charts (sight words) are sent home. Also Saxon homework, which is wonderful!
I send home activities for parents to help their children with each night. These include reading the book from the library and discussing what was read, math skills, reading skills, as well as practice for the DIBELS assessment.
Students should be bringing home their Leadership Notebook and LES Planners everyday. These need to return to school with your child each morning. Planners help students keep track of upcoming tests, projects and events. The students' Leadership Notebooks have the students personal, classroom, and AR goals, as well as their data from weekly test scores. Please take the time to look at your child's Planner and Leadership Notebook with your student.
Parental support is imperative for the success of our students. Planners and our Leadership notebooks are used daily in an effort to make the connection between home and school a reality.
My students use planners to record daily assignments and upcoming test dates. Parents initial the planner nightly. Students complete Math Fluency and Reading Logs for homework. This allows parents to make sure their child is practicing and getting reinforcement of skills and content that have been previously taught in class. Moodle and IXL are also available for students to practice skills at home. A workshop was presented by fourth grade teachers to parents about the use of these two technology resources.
Our weekly homework includes 4 Square Math and Reading Comprehension boosters. What's great about it is that students can work side by side with their parent. This allows the parents to gauge their child's strengths and weaknesses and offer support.
In second grade, students take home a newsletter each week. The newsletter informs the students and parents of all the skills and homework for the week. Spelling and Grammar skills are stated along with homework assignments. which includes Saxon Math and Reading Fluency. The newsletter also informs the parents of any special projects or special school happenings taking place over a monthly span.
I send home weekly homework. The homework focuses on practicing letter naming, initial sounds, nonsense words, high frequency words, and reading decodable text. In addition, children check out a library book and take it home each week to read with their parents. I think children really enjoy practicing what they are learning with their parents and it is very beneficial to their academic achievement.
All my homework assignments mirror and reinforce skills that are introduced and taught in class. Parents can help their children achieve greater academic success by being involved and supportive of those assignments and by making "homework time" a priority.
Four square math and comprehension boost help the student have the opportunity to work with the parent to gain support at home, while allowing. The parent insight to their class work success and struggles.
Tiffany said...
Homework is given weekly. In preparation for our upcoming DIBELS assessment, I have re-formatted my homework to resemble the assessment. This allows parents to practice with their child at home.
G. Fincher said...
Through the communication notebooks, I inform parents what skill we are focusing on daily. I let the parents know the skill that needs extra practice and provide materials if needed to the parents.
Mrs. Land said... in speech therapy class - students are given speech folders that go back and forth between home and the therapist. In these folders are the activities that are done in therapy and usually a list of practice words for the children to use at home. Parents have access to me through email, phone and cell phone. I always encourage parents to call me if they have questions or concerns about their childs speech.
Myra Edwards said... Parent involvement essential for a student to be successful in the classroom. I send homework (Four square and reading comprehension boosters)that is a reflection of what skills are being covered in the classroom.
In first grade, students have a fluency folder which contains passages that review the phonics skills previously taught. They also have a rapid word chart to review each week's sight words. Both of these have to be initialed by a parent and returned daily to ensure they are aware of what is being taught in class.
Monique Chatman said...Fourth grade gives math and reading homework nightly. I require that parents sign the reading log to verify that their child has read the recommended reading time. Students also complete a reading log that summarizes what they read that night. It would be great if parents read to their kids and the kids read to their parents. Now that's time well spent.
Since Art class is different from the classes that get tested like Math and Reading, we talk about techniques that they could practice at home to be even more prepared for the next time we're in Art together. I have had several parents come up to me and tell me that their child has come home from school and shown them the steps of the project that we worked on in Art that day.
It is wonderful when a child can teach their parents something they learned in Art class, and when those parents can even give their children some tips that they learned in school about how to draw something!
In music class, when performances arise, I make copies of scrips for students to take home and practice their parts with their parents. For my chorus students, I often make CDs for them to take home and practice the music as well as put copies of the words on the les website and moodle.
Parents help their student at home on LNF ,PSF, FSF and NWF . When students are pulled for small group you can tell a big difference in the students that have had extra help a at home.
I feel there needs to be several methods for parent involvement. LES involves parents through newsletters, websites, & blogs. In my class parents stay involved by Leadership Binders, Tuesday Folders, & weekly newsletters. Michel Haney
Fluency folders and Rapid Word Charts (sight words) are sent home. Also an AMSTI math calendar along with various investigation assignments.
My students complete fluency passages, rapid word charts, and math homework.
Fluency passages and Rapid Word Charts are sent home daily.
In first grade we have started sending home a monthly calendar with a nightly activity. The activities are usually a reflection of an AMSTI investigation.
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