Hello everyone. I am an education major, and new to this site. I'm trying to write a paper on parental involvement in the classroom and school activities, and was hoping that I could get feedback from teachers from all over. If you have any ideas that you've implemented in your classroom, ideas you've seen or used, or just your opinion would be very helpful. I realize that you are all very busy, but if you could just drop me a quick note, I would greatly appreciate your help. Thank you.
-
Welcome! Log in or Register Now for a free ProTeacher account!
views and suggestions on parental involvement
- Thread starter NicciB
- Start date
Parent Involvment
I encourage it. I like to have parents come in and help. Some are better than others (ie I have a parent that is a "cool guy" that calls his daughter stupid). I am learning to share my classroom with parents because for the first seven years, I didn't have parents involved. I look forward to parents coming in and helping with the things that I see as tedious. I hope that this helps and good luck.
I encourage it. I like to have parents come in and help. Some are better than others (ie I have a parent that is a "cool guy" that calls his daughter stupid). I am learning to share my classroom with parents because for the first seven years, I didn't have parents involved. I look forward to parents coming in and helping with the things that I see as tedious. I hope that this helps and good luck.
I was one!
I started out as a volunteer parent in my youngest son's kindergarten class. From there I became an aide and then a teacher. I taught kindergarten for 10years and had great parental involvement. I've been teaching fifth grade six years and it is harder to get the parents involved. Also in this day and age when it takes two incomes to live and there are so many single parent homes it hard to get volunteers.
As for ideas I used: in Kindergarten I had a parent everyday that manned a center as the children rotated. On holidays I would have several in at a time to man special centers. The kids loved the extra attention. In fifth, I have a reading mom and a homeroom mom that coordinates class parties.
Good luck on your paper. Parents can be a great extra pair of hands.
I started out as a volunteer parent in my youngest son's kindergarten class. From there I became an aide and then a teacher. I taught kindergarten for 10years and had great parental involvement. I've been teaching fifth grade six years and it is harder to get the parents involved. Also in this day and age when it takes two incomes to live and there are so many single parent homes it hard to get volunteers.
As for ideas I used: in Kindergarten I had a parent everyday that manned a center as the children rotated. On holidays I would have several in at a time to man special centers. The kids loved the extra attention. In fifth, I have a reading mom and a homeroom mom that coordinates class parties.
Good luck on your paper. Parents can be a great extra pair of hands.
LauraTeach
New Member
Parent Involvement
Hello!
Parents are VERY involved in the school in which I am currently student teaching. Parents very often volunteer in the classroom to be guest readers, help in the computer room or just to do whatever they can to help the teachers. The Kindergarten classes have a parent volunteer practically every day. They either do misc work such as cutting, copying or laminating, or they lead group activities with the students.
The school also has excellent communication with parents. The students in the upper grades have agendas which the parents must sign every night to indicate that they have read the students' homework assignments. The parents can also use the agendas to write notes to the teachers. The Kindergarteners have homework assignment that involves the parents, such as having the kids recite a story to their parents using pictures. Several teachers also have web sites so parents can log on and check out what's going on in the classroom, and others have newsletters that go home regularly describing what the students have been working on. We have a child with down syndrome in our Kindergarten class, and his aide writes in a composition book every day to tell his mom what he did that day. The mom has the option of writing notes back to say what he has been doing at home so the aide can really bond with him and bring in aspects of his home life to the classroom. He responds really well to that.
They also have a lot of activities to bring parents in like the fall festival, holiday breakfasts, father-daughter/mother-son dances, "donuts with dads," "muffins with mom," mothers' day tea, grandparents day activities and parent education programs. And of course parents are very willing to go on/help with the field trips
Parents are a huge part of our school community and we are fortunate to have parents that really want to be a part of it!
Hope this helps - let me know if I can do anything else!
Hello!
Parents are VERY involved in the school in which I am currently student teaching. Parents very often volunteer in the classroom to be guest readers, help in the computer room or just to do whatever they can to help the teachers. The Kindergarten classes have a parent volunteer practically every day. They either do misc work such as cutting, copying or laminating, or they lead group activities with the students.
The school also has excellent communication with parents. The students in the upper grades have agendas which the parents must sign every night to indicate that they have read the students' homework assignments. The parents can also use the agendas to write notes to the teachers. The Kindergarteners have homework assignment that involves the parents, such as having the kids recite a story to their parents using pictures. Several teachers also have web sites so parents can log on and check out what's going on in the classroom, and others have newsletters that go home regularly describing what the students have been working on. We have a child with down syndrome in our Kindergarten class, and his aide writes in a composition book every day to tell his mom what he did that day. The mom has the option of writing notes back to say what he has been doing at home so the aide can really bond with him and bring in aspects of his home life to the classroom. He responds really well to that.
They also have a lot of activities to bring parents in like the fall festival, holiday breakfasts, father-daughter/mother-son dances, "donuts with dads," "muffins with mom," mothers' day tea, grandparents day activities and parent education programs. And of course parents are very willing to go on/help with the field trips
Parents are a huge part of our school community and we are fortunate to have parents that really want to be a part of it!
Hope this helps - let me know if I can do anything else!
SC
Senior Member
Parental Involvement
I work in a private school, and our parents are VERY involved, especially with the very young students. It's really nice to have parental involvement, but sometimes there are those really "energetic" and "involved" parents who become annoying. I try to redirection their energy into something that will help me. For example, I have a mom in my class who just loves to hang around at school. I have her come in and make copies and do other random jobs that I don't have time for. She feels like part of the class, and I get some work done
I work in a private school, and our parents are VERY involved, especially with the very young students. It's really nice to have parental involvement, but sometimes there are those really "energetic" and "involved" parents who become annoying. I try to redirection their energy into something that will help me. For example, I have a mom in my class who just loves to hang around at school. I have her come in and make copies and do other random jobs that I don't have time for. She feels like part of the class, and I get some work done
bamateach
Senior Member
parental involvement
I have been teaching 8 years now and I have had years where I had lots of involved parents and years where I wondered where the children came from - because I never even met mom or dad. (That's sad because I taught 1st for 4 years and have taught 2nd for 4 years.) I enjoy having parents that will come and help. I have used parents to help in the following areas: field trip chaperone, party coordinator, putting up displays, read to the class, making copies, laminating and cutting out, sitting with the class during meetings, help with special projects, etc... I have never had a parent that could come daily and help with a group of children - but even if I did I don't know that I would want that.
I have been teaching 8 years now and I have had years where I had lots of involved parents and years where I wondered where the children came from - because I never even met mom or dad. (That's sad because I taught 1st for 4 years and have taught 2nd for 4 years.) I enjoy having parents that will come and help. I have used parents to help in the following areas: field trip chaperone, party coordinator, putting up displays, read to the class, making copies, laminating and cutting out, sitting with the class during meetings, help with special projects, etc... I have never had a parent that could come daily and help with a group of children - but even if I did I don't know that I would want that.
Ms. J
Senior Member
Parental involvement
I teach 3rd grade, and I love to have parents help out in the classroom. At Back to School Night, I usually hand out a "Menu of Opportunities" that gives family members a variety of ways they can help out in the classroom. They usually circle things that they are interested in doing, and I contact them as events occur.
Parents participate in our classroom in the following ways: helping out weekly with students in Math or L.A., leading a craft or activity on special occasions, talking about their job as it relates to our curriculum, coming in and reading to our class when their child is Student of the Week, coming in and taking pictures at special events, creating a class scrapbook during our free time on Fridays, and I even have a few parents in particular who help plan parties and/or special events.
Hope these help!
I teach 3rd grade, and I love to have parents help out in the classroom. At Back to School Night, I usually hand out a "Menu of Opportunities" that gives family members a variety of ways they can help out in the classroom. They usually circle things that they are interested in doing, and I contact them as events occur.
Parents participate in our classroom in the following ways: helping out weekly with students in Math or L.A., leading a craft or activity on special occasions, talking about their job as it relates to our curriculum, coming in and reading to our class when their child is Student of the Week, coming in and taking pictures at special events, creating a class scrapbook during our free time on Fridays, and I even have a few parents in particular who help plan parties and/or special events.
Hope these help!
Re: involved parents
First of all, I would like to thank those of you who have already posted replies. Your suggestions have helped me greatly. I was wondering if you think it is a good idea or not to require a certain number of volunteer hours? My younger brother goes to a private school, and they require a certain number of hours per school year, to be served in so many ways. And also, how do you think we could involve parents in middle schools and high schools?
First of all, I would like to thank those of you who have already posted replies. Your suggestions have helped me greatly. I was wondering if you think it is a good idea or not to require a certain number of volunteer hours? My younger brother goes to a private school, and they require a certain number of hours per school year, to be served in so many ways. And also, how do you think we could involve parents in middle schools and high schools?
I
Ida A.
Guest
Parental Involvement
Hello NicciB,
There are volumes of reseach on the subject of parental involvement and how it impacts learning and reading motivation. I came across An Early Literacy Intervention Project which suggested that parental involvement is a key factor that predicts success in reading development(Leslie, Allen 1999). For this reason, I designed a series of parent training workshops in which I had the opportunity to teach seven early reading strategies to parents as well as their children. This idea came to me as a result of working with third graders who struggle in the area or reading both with personal interest and motivation to read. Most of the children in my classroom are reading between a kindergaten and first grade level. As you can imagine, I felt a great need to involve the parents of my students in their reading development. I am an educator who is currently serving Second Language Learnes of Hispanic oringin who come from low-income families who are linguistically and culturally different from the U.S, mainstream, and who are at-risk of failing due to reading difficulties. By providing and equipping Hispanic parents with early reading strategies that will promote reading developments, their children can have the opportunity to succeed academically, increase their motivation in reading and develop an authentic love and joy for reading while learning. I have noticed a more positive attitud from my students in the area of reading. They are reading a lot more and seem to enjoy it too!!
Hello NicciB,
There are volumes of reseach on the subject of parental involvement and how it impacts learning and reading motivation. I came across An Early Literacy Intervention Project which suggested that parental involvement is a key factor that predicts success in reading development(Leslie, Allen 1999). For this reason, I designed a series of parent training workshops in which I had the opportunity to teach seven early reading strategies to parents as well as their children. This idea came to me as a result of working with third graders who struggle in the area or reading both with personal interest and motivation to read. Most of the children in my classroom are reading between a kindergaten and first grade level. As you can imagine, I felt a great need to involve the parents of my students in their reading development. I am an educator who is currently serving Second Language Learnes of Hispanic oringin who come from low-income families who are linguistically and culturally different from the U.S, mainstream, and who are at-risk of failing due to reading difficulties. By providing and equipping Hispanic parents with early reading strategies that will promote reading developments, their children can have the opportunity to succeed academically, increase their motivation in reading and develop an authentic love and joy for reading while learning. I have noticed a more positive attitud from my students in the area of reading. They are reading a lot more and seem to enjoy it too!!