MASTER COLUMNS GOOD FIT
.
18
Planned experiences allow families to feel connected to the school and the learning that happens in their child’s classroom. Although sometimes intimidating, involving families provides learning experiences for the teacher as well as the students. As one candidate shared in her reflection, “Family involvement activities should add to the content learned in class and the child’s family is a very good source for understanding the child and their behaviors. I enjoyed receiving my students’ work and seeing that they were able to meet the standards I set for the project.” These experiences support the work in the classroom and allow the teacher to get to know the family as a partner in learning.
References
Abdul-Adil, J. K., & Farmer, A. D., Jr. (2006). Inner-city African American parental involvement in elementary schools: Getting beyond urban legends of apathy. School Psychology Quarterly, 21(1), 1-12. As found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1521/scpq.2006.21.1.1
Child trends. Parent involvement in schools. As viewed at https://www.childtrends.org/indicators/parental-involvement-in-schools
McQuiggan, M. & Megra, M. (2017). Parent and family involvement in education: Results from the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2016 (NCES 2017-102) [Table 2], Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2017/2017102.pdf.
Garcia, L. & Thornton, O. (November, 2014). The enduring importance of parental involvement.
NEA Today. Teachers and their classrooms: Parental involvement. http://neatoday.org/2014/11/18/the-enduring-importance-of-parental-involvement-2/
Dr. Natalie Tye was a preschool teacher and director for ten years. She is currently program coordinator and instructor at the University of Central Missouri where she teaches play-based coursework for sophomore and junior-level students.
.