Thursday, May 2, 2013

Getting the Parents Involved

HomeàSchool Communication & Activities
 
It is imperative that you involve parents in your plan to motivate students to read and write.  There are many creative ways to engage families in reading and writing with their children.  These activities can be posted to your school website, mentioned at a parent-teacher conference, listed in a classroom newsletter, or given as a handbook in the beginning of the year.  It is beneficial to provide activities for different topics to try at home throughout the school year.  This may be easier when students are younger, but it is still possible to find fun activities for secondary students to involve their families in.  If students can see that their family values literacy and are willing to take their time out to support their child’s literacy education they will learn to value it as well.  There are numerous websites dedicated to this idea of home to school literacy activities.  The link below has some interesting ideas and games to try for younger students.

 
Family Literacy Nights

Growing up I always loved family fun nights at school, and they are a great way to promote literacy.  Students get a chance to show off what they are reading or writing in class, and also team up with their family to complete activities together in the school setting.  It allows students to see how much their parents value their education, and gives credibility to what they are working so hard to complete in class.  These nights can also be an eye-opener to parents to be more aware of what their students are working on in literacy and continue to encourage their growth at home.  I don’t think literacy nights need to stop at elementary school either.  Students need to see this parental support and encouragement just as much in junior and high school, if not more.

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