Week 5: Culture and Community Characteristics & Call to Action

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This week in AMLE, I enjoyed reading about how schools need to actively involve families in the education of their children.  As the text points out, the involvement of parents starts to dwindle at the middle school level versus where at the elementary level, parent involvement is strong because parents believe that their children need support at this level.  When students get to the middle school level, parents are uncertain about how they can be involved in this new, much larger school and may be uncertain about the most appreciated way to deal with all of the changes taking place with their child.  

 I'm living this first-hand as my daughter is preparing to head into middle school in about four months.  The school is much larger and I don't know any of the teachers or even the layout of the middle school, but I have to remind myself that just four years ago I didn't know any of this about my daughter's elementary school either.  It's a big change for all of us, and I'm very excited for my daughter and all of the opportunities!

 Promoting a home-school partnership is key to a successful experience and education.  Home-school partnerships help teachers develop strong relationships with their students and motivate parents to cooperate with teachers to improve academic performance. Parents also can learn basic teaching concepts, learn with their children and get to know others in the community while contributing to schools by volunteering.

Parent involvement in schools leads to higher grades and test scores and better attendance and homework completion records. These students also are likely to graduate and pursue higher education because their parents have taken an interest in their education and serve as role models.

 

Comments

  1. lisa_pesaventoApril 8, 2018 at 1:07 PM

    Hi Kirsten,

    I agree that parent involvement is paramount to the success of every student. I think a large portion of that is due to the student seeing their parent cares and is concerned for their future by being involved in what they are doing. We have covered the topic of parents tending to move away from middle school aged students due to them "growing up", or trying to "give them space", but I really do think that this is a time in life that they need parental support and guidance the most. Watching their parents become involved in their learning is a positive message for them, especially when it can help parents learn how to help their children, like you said. Great post this week!

    -Lisa P.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Malcom ThompsonApril 10, 2018 at 7:02 PM

    Great point Kirsten,
    I agree with your post and I also appreciate your insight into the mind of the middle schooler. I also agree with your point about parents and their involvement. I believe teaching starts at home. Student will response positively to their parents who they have known all their lives. So parents must understand the necessity of a united front between teacher and parent.The parent is just as much apart of this academic process as the school.

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