Parental Engagement

Libraries and Families

September 28, 2015

lancasterlibrary

Did you know September is National Library Card Sign-Up Month? As a lifelong fan of libraries since my parents started taking me as a child and a former board member of the Library System of Lancaster County I encourage you to get a library card and visit your local library.

The most recent email newsletter from the Harvard Family Research Project reminds us that:

Today’s library is a modern, evolving community space of education and support, a place where families can participate in learning activities with their children, access valuable information, secure passes to local museums, and connect with other families and community organizations.

Click here to read an article on how libraries can address families’ digital learning needs. To read my blog series on parental engagement and reading, click here.

More than just a place to check out books libraries also function as hubs that can connect families with the enormous benefit of reading. Check out this short video showcasing Queens Library’s Family Literacy Program

Visit your local library today and be sure to read to your kids.

HECOA: Trust Parents (speaking)

September 21, 2015

This Thursday, September 24th, I will be giving my “Trust Parents” talk at the Not Back to School Summit hosted by the Home Education Council of America. Visit the website to register for the conference. One of my topics is on the importance of trusting parents. Here’s the description.

Trust Parents: Why Engaged Parents are Essential in Building Lifelong Learners
At the heart of this talk is the simple truth that parents are the key to a successful education. The secret? You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to help your child succeed. Drawing on a rich set of research, various social sciences studies, and Ethan’s homeschooling story “from coonskin cap to college graduate,” this talk provides a compelling argument for the importance (and power) of trusting parents. Learn practical tips for parental engagement and be encouraged by the evidence that says, “parents you can do it and you can do it well.”

Here are the slides:

Visit my appearances page to schedule me for your next event.

Study: Teachers Don’t Trust Parents

September 7, 2015

Do parents trust their children’s teachers? Do teachers trust their student’s parents? A study presented at the British Psychological Society’s annual conference in Paris suggests that the trust is often a one-way street.

From the study:

“In both the US and the UK, parents were found to display higher levels of trust for teachers than the teachers do for parents. Parent trust is especially high at primary school but reduces when children go up to secondary school.”

Trust is important. In fact, trust is an important component of learning. Increasingly, educators are noticing and writing that parents matter and that it is imperative to build parental engagement in schools. Parents trust teachers and they need to trust themselves. But more importantly teachers need to trust parents. By trusting parents and working with them teachers can maximize the educational benefit for the students.

#TrustParents

A Successful Homeschool / Public School Partnership

August 24, 2015

Stereotypes abound in the tensions between the homeschooling and public schooling communities. Distrust and suspicion often lead to sharp divisions as people choose sides instead of opportunities. School districts in Michigan are busting stereotypes, breaking down walls, and building partnerships. A new MindShift article explains:

Michigan has a Schools of Choice program, which means families can choose where to send their children based on the programs offered, not only on where they live. School districts are competing to attract students, and the state funds that come with them. While many homeschool families aren’t interested in enrolling their children in public school full time, they see the benefit of taking a few classes if that means they have more access to funds to pay for instruction of their choice.

It’s expensive for homeschooling families to provide the music lessons, tutors and other opportunities they’d like their children to access. Getting help from the public schools — which their tax money supports — gave homeschooling families a tremendous lift and helped them overcome their distrust of the public system.

This model also benefits the public schools. With the extra money coming in from these part-time homeschoolers has helped fund a STEM program, teacher training, etc.. In addition, the partnership encouraged schools to focus on project-based learning while learning from homeschoolers how to customize and personally tailor education to fit with the needs of each student.

And so:

What started as a financial incentive for both sides has resulted in a program that has broken down stereotypes, built trust and helped change ingrained notions of how instruction and learning can look both in and outside the system.

Once these stereotypes are broken down, public educators

Get a chance to see what reality is, then all of a sudden they are supportive of the concept that parents have a right to choose the method under which their kids will be educated.

It’s good to see a public school system that can #TrustParents and work with them to get great results for their kids.

(You can read the full article here.)