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Tips on How Teachers Can "Draw and Attract" Parent Participation Provide a short biography about yourself and your interests. Parents seldom have opportunities during "drop-off" and "pick-up" time to get to know their child’s teacher, and conversations during these brief encounters often focus on the events of the day. Sharing some particular details about your special talents and interests can lessen any “stranger” anxiety and make parents feel more at ease. Invite parents to complete a brief questionnaire. Not only can parents be an invaluable source of information about their own children, but they can bring special interests and talents to share with the entire school community. You may want to ask parents to fill out a questionnaire on the first day of school or invite them to take it home and return it at a later date. Some questions to ask might include: - Would you be interested in being a “guest” in our classroom? Could you be a story reader? Teach a song? Help with an art project?
- Is there a special topic that you would like to see incorporated into the curriculum? (e.g., adoption, new siblings, moving to a new home)
- Is there a special interest or talent you would like to share with the children? The staff?
- What is the best way to reach you during the day?
- What is your availability during the day?
For more information about tools and questionnaires to help engage parents, click here. Some additional suggestions for building productive parent partnerships are: Don’t do everything yourself! Assign specific tasks to teacher assistants/aides and volunteers and make time to share information and impressions frequently, especially after conversations with parents. Trying to do everything yourself can cause extreme exhaustion, frustration, disappointment and even resentment. Some assistants/aides have a wealth of experience (in the classroom and with parents) and asking them for advice may be a very wise thing to do. Be sure to acknowledge everyone’s unique contributions as members of a “team”...parents, too! Create a photo album of your class in action. Pictures of children involved in different activities can be a wonderful way to engage parents when they visit the classroom/school. Check backpacks daily. Notes from parents, permission slips, money due, and supplies have a way of finding their way to the bottom of the bag! Encourage and remind parents to do the same. Provide a "dialog notebook" or "daily diary" for each student. These notebooks, kept in children’s backpacks, are an excellent way to send messages to and from school and home regarding a child’s progress. For parents whose schedules do not allow for visits to the school building, this offers them a way to stay involved, avoid feelings of guilt, and share regular and timely feedback. “To Involve, To Hold Onto”
The Recognition and Response system recognizes a number of different types of ‘readiness’ when it comes to transition to school. Just as schools need to be ready for children, and children need to be ready for schools, parents also need to be ready to ‘hand off' their children to educators who will begin to shape their early school careers. | Sarah's father, Mr. Henry, presented himself on the first day of school with a big smile and a thousand questions! While not really 'worried' about his daughter's transition to preschool, he was very inquisitive about what happened at different times during the day, and made repeated mention of this being Sarah's first experience in a 'real school' setting. During the course of the first few days of school he made frequent appearances, called and left messages, and wrote notes to the teacher, aides, and school administrator. With plenty of reassurance (often very brief, but always with an anecdote about something Sarah did in class) from the teacher and aides, he was able to ’detach’ and become less anxious about her adjustment |
Next: Tips on how teachers can maintain parental interest and involvement
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