Research shows that parents’ involvement in their kid’s learning is the strongest predictor of academic success. When schools, teachers, and parents come together to form a team, kids benefit. But how can we get started? Use these three ideas to engage families as partners in teaching and learning. ⤵️ 1️⃣ Empower families to embrace their expertise. Families can be their children’s first and most important teachers. They tend to know their kids best and can have valuable insight to share. Help families realize this by disrupting the idea that educators are the only “experts” that need to be listened to. Families come with their own expertise about their children and how they best learn. 2️⃣ Listen to families. Encourage families to keep sharing what is working— and not working— at home. When you invite families to share how learning is going, truly listen to them. Come to conversations with a series of open-ended questions that you can ask. If you’d like to engage families as partners in their children’s reading development, ask questions such as: Is your family able to make time for at-home reading time?; What is working? What would make it easier for you?; Where could you use more support or guidance? Cultivate patience, curiosity, and compassion. Do not try to direct the conversation or answer parents’ requests immediately. Instead, allow yourself time to truly listen. Dedicate time to reflect— ideally with colleagues— on what you heard families say, then make a plan for moving forward. 3️⃣ Foster collaboration. To truly support students, we need to create a culture that invites parents’ voices and incorporates structured approaches that bring families and schools together. Work together with families to get clear on where their child is at academically and set goals for improvement. Create a plan together to support these goals both inside and outside of school. By keeping the lines of communication open, you can create consistency with the language and approaches being used at home and school. Working towards common goals creates a seamless support system for students. #StudentSuccess #Education #Educators
Lena Tunon
1w
This is so true! The home-school connection is so important, and has degraded so much recently. It’s so important for teachers and parents to be on the same team!
Incorporating all the “communities “ in which the child exists in is crucial and the impacts show positive results
Liz Crayton
5d
I love this! So true! Educators can facilitate a great team for each student! Beginning the MTSS process this way empowers families to be part of the learning process. 🩷
Technology Leader | ISD Talent Connector | Product and Operations Development
1w“To truly support students, we need to create a culture that invites parents’ voices and incorporates structured approaches that bring families and schools together.” Absolutely love this statement. Too often we see schools and families siloed and often working against each other. To truly create an effective MTSS model, we must work hard to bring together parents and schools and create a unified system to support our students.