Lesson 9: Family Services Project

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able

• Support the supervising teacher with family engagement
• Gather resources related to the needs of the children and families
• Create a home-school connection that is related to classroom and family needs
• Reflect upon the process of family engagement

Teaching

As we have been discussing, we know that families are the child’s first and most important teacher.  The research speaks for itself that likelihood of child’s academic success is directly related to family involvement and engagement.

In lesson 7 you began strategizing your family engagement project and turned in a summary of ideas.  Now is the time to finalize and implement your ideas!

Part 3 - "On the Same Page - Families and Schools as Partners" - YouTube

Watch the above video, "On the Same Page - Families and Schools as Partners" - you will see strategies of how schools engaged families by creating a parent resource room, a family room, hiring a parent liaison or partnering with community members.  It was obvious by using these strategies, families became more involved and the schools saw positive outcomes for the children.  These are wonderful examples of ways schools have validated parent importance, but how can you achieve this on a smaller scale? 

As a practicum student it is not realistic for you to build a solid relationship with every family in your site or create a space for a family room.  What is expected of you is to assist your supervising teacher in engaging families on a deeper level that will benefit everyone involved. 

The project must be meaningful and contain at least three strategies of engagement.

• One strategy must be related to talking with a family or families in person  – (a home visit, parent teacher conference or parent event)
• One strategy must contain resources
• One strategy must be a home-school connection

For example:

I am doing a Family Engagement Project on Health and Nutrition.  The classroom is currently learning about oral health and the dentist is scheduled to come on December 20th at 9am.  Prior to the dentist visit I will be:

• Creating a newsletter about which foods and beverages can be harmful to your teeth and how brushing can decrease your chances for cavities.  The newsletter will also include fun activities you can do with your child to prepare for dental visits.  I plan to get this newsletter out by Friday December 13th.
• I will create a bulletin board with resources that is located when you enter the building.  Resources will include some of the information in the newsletter and also health and nutrition community supports that families could access.  I also plan to have the bulletin board done by Friday December 13th.
• I will be present at the dental visit on December 20th.  I know there will be two families attending so I will ask them if they found any of my resources helpful

Assessment

Lesson 9 Assignment

Part One (to be completed week one) – Provide an outline and explanation into Drop Box A

Please provide an explanation of what and when you are doing.  Include specific dates and times with specific guidelines.  (See example in the teaching section for more guidance if needed).
       
Part Two (to be completed upon agreed timeline) – Write a 2-3 page paper (this means and introductory paragraph, a body and a conclusion.  Complete sentences and proof reading is necessary) addressing the following:

1. What is the need of the children and families you are meeting that you and the teacher agreed upon?
2. Description of each engagement strategy (also provide which one was the home-school connection, which one was a resource and which one was the face to face connection)
3. The purpose of each engagement strategy
4. How each strategy wove family engagement in to what the children were already learning
5. Reflection about the project process and outcome
1. Do you think your activity met your purpose of family engagement and how?
2. Did you have to alter your plan at all?  If so, how and why did that happen?
3. If you had to do it again, what would you do differently?
4. What surprised you during your project?
5. What were your major take-a-ways or insights?
6. How did this process enhance your skills related to family engagement?
7. How did this process impact your professional development?

Submit the paper and supporting documentation into Drop Box B