• Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • FAQ
    • Disclosure and Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
  • Community
  • Books
    • Books for Children by Age
    • Book Lists
    • Holiday Books and Activities
  • Reading Ideas
    • Babies
    • Toddlers
    • Preschoolers
    • Kindergarteners & Early Elementary
  • Writing Ideas
  • Parental Involvement: Building Partnerships
  • Start Here!
    • WELCOME TO THE GROWING BOOK BY BOOK COMMUNITY
    • Subscribe
    • Contact
    • FAQ
      • Disclosure and Privacy Policy
  • Shop
  • Home
  • Book Lists
    • Books for Children by Age
    • Book Lists
    • Holiday Books and Activities
  • Book Activities
  • Early Literacy
    • Alphabet Activities
    • Circle Time Activities
    • Phonological Awareness Activities

Growing Book by Book

  • Family Involvement
    • Start a Family Dinner Book Club
  • Start Here
  • Store
discovering with babies playing with toddlers exploring with preschoolers building with beginning readers

Bring joy and play into children's lives through books.

Yes, please!
Home » Parental Involvement: Building Partnerships
building school and family partnerships

Parental Involvement: Building Partnerships

Sharing is caring!

158 shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
building school and family partnerships

Family and parental involvement in education is a crucial piece in a child’s academic and social growth. Families and schools all want the children to be successful.  We have the same goal. So, let’s work together to make it happen.

Below you will find resources for helping families find the time, resources and confidence to help their children at home build literacy skills.

building school and family partnershipsSchool Resources

Parental Involvement at School

Families need to feel welcomed and invited to the school.  Seek opportunities that will encourage families to want to visit and participate in school activities.  Here are some tips.

  • Find out the strengths of each family and then ask them to share their talents with the school in some way.
  • Have events during the day and after school to accommodate parent work schedules. Vary the day of the week that these events occur also.
  • Use a variety of communication techniques– email, phone calls, newsletters, texts, home visits, etc.
  • Provide a yearly calendar to families so they can plan ahead and then follow up with monthly, weekly, and sometimes daily reminders.

Parental Involvement at Home

Provide parents and families with the tools they need to be successful at home.  Here are a few ideas for encouraging parental involvement at home.

  • Give flexible homework assignments.  Try out Book Based Activity Calendars.
  • Send home books for families to read together. Use these Take Home Book Bags.
  • Recommend books to families.  Suggest books from over 75 book lists we have on Growing Book by Book. Or send home this printable list of 101 Books Every Child Should Hear Before Kindergarten.
  • Let families know how teachers can be reached with questions.
  • Send virtual or hard copies of newsletters, tips, and ideas.  Think bite-sized pieces.
  • Provide specific strategies during family and school conferences.

The key to building a home and school relationship is to do lots of active listening. Listen to what your families need and then provide the resources to help them help the kids.   And, don’t judge.  Our families come to school on all different levels just like our kids do.  Meet them where they are at and then help.

If you really want to build a family and school partnership, grab our Empowering Families to Find the Confidence, Time, & Resources to Build Literacy Skills at Home.

Family Resources

There are many helpful resources for helping families encourage and support literacy growth at home here at Growing Book by Book.  Check out these posts.

Family Dinner Book Clubs

Family Dinner Book ClubHold a monthly Family Dinner Book Club.  Each month families read a book with the kids and then use our themed menu, table crafts, conversation starters, and family service project to create a dinner book club.

Check out the archive of over 45 Family Dinner Book Clubs to choose from.  You can even join our Family Dinner Book Club Facebook Page.

Homework Stations

Having tools and resources handy will make homework and extra practice efficient.  Set up a rolling cart sight/spelling word station or a homework central station.

Finding Pockets of Time to Read

We can’t make more hours in the day, but we can make better use of the 24 hours each day we are given. Grab this free printable resource sheet full of ideas for finding pockets of time in your day to enjoy great books with kids.

FAQ

My biggest struggle for my Pre-K group is helping parents understand that reading is not the goal in preschool and pre-k, that pre-literacy skills are what is important. 

Yes, communicating developmentally appropriate practices is key.  Communication with parents about best early childhood practices is important.  Helping families learn about phonological awareness is helpful.  The What is Phonological Awareness? post will be helpful.

Parents give their kids tablets or phones instead of books. The children have no attention span to books in print. It’s sad. How can I get parents to encourage reading?

Yes, technology is a huge part of our world today.  It can be extremely powerful in learning and communication AND it can also become very addictive.  As with everything, we need to help find balance.

Recommending great literacy opportunities to families such as library events, newly released books, and holding hands-on learning activities for families at school are some of the ways to help kids see that reading is just as fun (if not more) than playing a video game.

Also, share well-done educational technology resources with families.  Here is a great resource to direct them too.—>Technology for Kids to Build Literacy Skills.

Family and parental involvement in education requires us to truly form partnerships to help kids grow into readers. Varied communication, active listening, and having a toolbox of tools ready to share and help will help you have great gains in building those family and school partnerships.

 

ways to build parental involvement

Did you get your free list of Books Kids Will Beg You to Read?

Get It

Sharing is caring!

158 shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

What can we help you find?

Subscribe to Growing Book by Book

lead magnet for growing book bybook
Welcome to Growing Book by Book!  Learn about the creator, Jodie Rodriguez.

Find More

alphabet activities
book lists for children
circle time button

Set Up for Circle Time Success

month by month circle time songs


Copyright ©2023, Growing Book by Book. All Rights Reserved. Custom design by Pixel Me Designs | Privacy Policy