Coming Up With A Strong Home-School Link - Research Paper Example

Coming Up With A Strong Home-School Link School is usually considered second home to young children. For most children, it is the first environmentoutside their homes where they feel they belong, as they go there for long periods, being with caring adults who attend to their needs. Adjustment to a new world such as school entails the continued involvement of children’s families. That is why schools or children’s centers value the participation of parents or siblings of their students. The importance of parent participation in their children’s schooling is always stressed. They are the most significant people in the children’s lives who provide the primary education. When parents continue being involved in their children’s education, it helps improve their children’s achievements. The benefits go on throughout the children’s academic career (Brewer, 2002). This contention is founded on Brofenbrenner’s Ecological model that takes into account the external influences that affect the ability of families to enhance learning and development of their children and exemplifies the first stage of parent involvement ideology (Gordon, 1979; Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1986). The basic assumptions of this perspective are based on shared responsibilities of both the child’s home, school and other environments that highlight its communication, coordination and cooperation (Epstein, 1987). Brofenbrenner’s Ecological Model explains that the behavior and development of an individual is an interplay of the individual’s biological and personality factors, his environment and the society and culture he was born into. Brofenbrenner also claims that effects of interactions between the individual and his environment are two-directional or characterized by reciprocity. This means that while a child’s development is influenced and molded by his family, school and peers, he likewise influences and molds the behavior of others. The growing child moves through five systems that inter-relate and affect his development (Brofenbrenner, 1979). The most basic of which is the microsystem, where direct contacts between the child and his immediate surroundings result in behaviors such as dependence or independence and cooperation or competition. An example of this is the home base of the child and his relationship with his family. The pure culture of the society this family lives in greatly influences how this family lives and how the child imbibes the culture as he expresses it in his developing personality. The mesosystem comprises the linkages and processes that take place between two or more settings with the child in common. A perfect example is how learning in school is supported by follow up lessons in the home. The third level comprising linkages and processes taking place between two or more settings is the exosystem. This includes at least one setting that does not directly involve the child, but still influences the processes within the immediate setting of the child. An example is the parent’s occupation. The workplace of this parent does not contain the child, but processes at work may affect his development such as the hours spent there by the parent may affect the parent-child bond. The fourth system is the macrosystem which includes the customs, values and laws considered important in the child’s culture and upbringing. A child from another culture may celebrate special customs and traditions from his culture apart from the special occasions celebrated in his host country. Lastly, the chronosystem in Brofenbrenner’s Ecological model, refers to the time that transpires as the child relates in his various environments. An example is the change that happens to the child while he grows up moving from one system to another, like the westernization of the values of a child originally from an Asian culture (Brofenbrenner, 1979). This ecological model implies that the interplay and quality of the various systems and environments of the child will play different roles in influencing his development. Likewise, whatever comes out of that development will affect the various environments the child belongs to. For instance, the free expression of his culture may lead to environments being more accepting of it (Brofenbrenner, 1979). Hence, parent involvement in schools is highly encouraged because it bridges gaps between the child’s ecological systems, It is most effective when it is comprehensive, well-planned and long-lasting. This is when schools come in, as they design effective family involvement programs. The school should be able to consider all the ecological systems children have interplaying in their lives so as to come up with home-school programs that are effective. There is no question that schools achieve their project goals when parents are cooperative (Brewer, 2002). That is why the school present ways for them to get more actively involved such as being volunteers to help in classroom activities, when needed, doing parent-child assignments supporting school-related projects, contributing their efforts to bulletin boards or newsletters, being resource persons both to the children and to their co-parents, among others (Brewer, 2001). Parents need not be well-educated or wealthy to make a difference. Parent involvement in their children’s academic life has been known to have a strong impact in student achievement. Henderson and Mapp (2002) suggest that parent involvement programs can have a positive effect on student academic success since they correlated improved behavior, better attendance, higher grade point averages, better social skills in school and enrollment in more challenging academic programs with parental involvement. Other studies have also linked increased parental involvement to student achievement through student grades, teacher ratings of student competence, and test scores (Epstein & Van Voorhis, 2001; Hill & Craft, 2003). School success, lower rates of retention, lower drop-out rates, and higher graduation rates are also positively associated with parental involvement (Ma, 1999; Miedel & Reynolds, 1999). Parents influence academic achievement by having high expectations for their children (Gottfried & Gottfried, 1989), by participating in school events (Epstein, 1985; Stevenson & Baker, 1987), offering advice and support (Grolnick & Slowiaczek, 1994) and providing positive home learning experiences (Epstein, 1987). To date, several studies have suggested that the effects of parental involvement to academic achievement are consistent at grade levels, all levels of economic background, parental education, and racial heritage of the children (Jeynes, 2003). However, parents are not as involved as they should be. Studies have indicated that parents who want to be involved want more communication from the schools so they can meet their goals for their children (Eccles & Harold, 1993). Teachers have noticed the trend that as their students move from elementary to secondary schools, parent involvement fades substantially (Eccles & Harold, 1993). Teachers and staff should exert more effort with these parents and learn how to meet the challenges of collaboration. Positive attitudes that prevail towards them will encourage them to appreciate the benefits of their active participation in their child’s education. They should feel welcomed in the school regardless of their cultural background, socio-economic status, religion, etc. Embracing diversity develops respectful relationships with families (Decker, et al, 2009). It is a well-known fact that when teachers and parents work together, common goals for their children are achieved more successfully. This is because parents provide essential developmental information regarding their child while the school provides valuable information about the education of the child and available community resources (DeMoss, 1998). Communication between the home and the school is vital to the program. That is why the school needs to create ways to strengthen the home-school link to update parents of what is happening to their children in school through the children’s narrative record, monthly newsletters, a website or blog of the school or the particular class of the child, parent-teacher conferences and parent seminars given by the school. These provide opportunities for the school to disseminate information about the child or news about the class or school activities. It can also serve as a venue to educate parents on pertinent education news or information that would help them in the proper care and rearing of their children. Teachers may also provide tips and suggested activities that parents can do with their children such as arts and crafts or simple experiments as well as lyrics to songs (Decker et al, 2009). On the other hand, parents are always welcome to raise their concerns, questions or complaints regarding their children. They are free to call the school, write a note or schedule for a parent-teacher conference. Epstein (1992) has developed a researched-based model of six types of parent involvement that can be utilized to design comprehensive programs of schools, families and community partnerships. The six dimensions of involvement are parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision-making and collaborating with community (Epstein, 1992). Of the six dimensions, the one most related to collaboration activities in a literature program is learning at home. Learning-at-home activities contribute to student success by incorporating learning activities done at home which are related to the children’s class work. Families support their children by helping out with such tasks. Examples of these activities may include interactive homework, goal-setting activities, student-family-teacher contracts for projects, summer reading packets and student-led home portfolio nights. Epstein (2002) suggests schools to hold Family Fun Nights to orient parents and students to focus on curricular activities and to encourage conversations regarding academic subjects. Swap’s (1993) curriculum-enrichment model involves parents in the designing of the curriculum by incorporating their contributions. This particular model’s basic assumption is that parents have their own expertise to bring into the enrichment of curriculum to expand the educational goals and objectives for the children. Within this model, parent involvement focuses on the curriculum and instruction within schools. One good example of an area where schools can call on parent involvement is in literature programs. Making literature come alive for young children is a lot of hard work for a dedicated, creative and industrious teacher. However, efforts will be worth it when the literature program strongly supports the overall development of the children. Being able to touch one child’s life with literature is indeed a noble task. The following are some suggestions that schools can do to increase and improve parent involvement in schools: 1. Parent Storytellers – Children take pride in having their own parents take over their class to awe their classmates with their storytelling prowess. A teacher may assign a particular story to be read by a parent, along with tips on how to engage children’s attention, use different voices and intonations and even the use of varied facial expressions, body movements. Creative questioning skills should also be suggested. For better retention of the story, parents may prepare a simple activity to supplement the story. This may be an arts and craft activity, a game, a webbing activity or questioning about the story or helping children come up with an alternative ending to the story. 2. Story Sleepover- This activity allows children to bring home a storybook with a token of one representative character from the story (like a stuffed toy). The child is to care for while it is “visiting” his or her home, and allow the family members to interact with it and the story by processing information and doing tasks related to the story. This ensures that the story is fully understood by the child, along with its interpretation and implications. The teacher can insert some guide questions and activities that may be done at home related to the story. 3. Story Chain- The Family Story Chain is a grand project wherein an original storybook is passed around the families of the children for them to add their contribution with a page or two. This way, the story gets completed with everyone anticipating how it turns out. 4. Family Reading Night- This is a night filled with stories told by parents and teachers. It is also a good opportunity to “launch” the products of the Family Story Chains completed by each class. It will be the first time all the families will get to read and listen to the completed story, and not just the pages before their own family page in the book. It is inevitable that some families would prefer not get involved in the school activities of their children. There may be a host of reasons for this. Most of the time, parents reason lack of time due to their work pressures. This may be resolved by a reasonable adjustment in time to accommodate such busy parents in some school activities, like holding it on weekends or early evenings after work hours. However, for some parents, they may believe or feel that the school may not accept them for who they are due to their cultural difference (Decker et al, 2009). Despite the school’s advocacy for family involvement, there is no pressure for parents to participate if they are not interested. However, for those dedicated ones who support their children in their growth and development, as well as the school’s efforts in optimizing their potentials by encouraging bonding with families, they receive recognition. Parent Awards are distributed at the end of the year to honor those who have been steadfast in their support and cooperation. Enjoining parents and families in their children’s school activities not only strengthens bonds between them but also creates happy memories that children will fondly look back to when they grow up. References Brewer, J. (2001) Introduction to Early Childhood Education. Allyn & Bacon. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Comer, J. & Haynes, N. (1991). Parent involvement in schools: an ecological approach. Elementary School Journal, 91(3), 271-277. Decker, C. Decker,J., Freeman, N. and Knorpf, H. (2009). Planning and administering early childhood programs (9th edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson DeMoss, S. (1998). A conceptual analysis of a parent-culture’s perceptions of parent involvement. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Oklahoma, Norman. Dym, B. (1988). Ecological perspectives on change in families. In H.B. Weiss & F.H. Jacobs (Eds.), Evaluating family programs (pp. 477-495). New York: Aldine de Gruyter. Eccles, J. & Harold, R.D. (1993). Parent-school involvement during the early adolescent years. Teachers College Record 94(3), 568-587. Epstein, J. (1987). Parent involvement: What research says to administrators. Education and Urban Society, 19, 119-136. Epstein, J. (1992). Toward a theory of family-school connections: teacher practices and parent involvement. In K. Hurrelmann, F. Kaufmann, & F. Losel (Eds.), Social Intervention: potential and constraints (pp. 121-136). New York: Aldine de Gruyter. Epstein, J. (2002) School and family partnerships. In M. Alkin (Ed), Encyclopedia of Educational Research. 6th ed. 1139-1151. New York: MacMillan. Epstein, J. & Van Voorhis F. (2001). More than minutes: Teacher’s roles in designing homework. Educational Psychologist, 36 (3), 181-193. Gordon, I. (1979). The affects of parent involvement on schooling. Partners: Parents and schools. Washington, DC: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 4-25. Gottfried, A. E., & Gottfried, A. W. (1989, April). Home environment and children’s academic intrinsic motivation: A longitudinal study. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Kansas City. Grolnick, W. & Slowiaczek, M. (1994). Parents’ involvement in children’s schooling: A multidimensional conceptualization and motivational model. Child Development 64, 237-252. Henderson, A. & Mapp, K. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family, and community connection on student achievement; Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. Hill, N. & Craft, S. (2003). Parent-school involvement and school performance: Mediated pathways among socioeconomically comparable African American and Euro-American families. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 74-83. Jeynes, W. (2003). A meta-analysis The effects of parental involvement on minority children’s academic achievement. Education and Urban Society, 35(2), 202-218. Ma, X. (1999). Dropping out of advanced mathematics: The effects of parental involvement. Teachers College Record, 101(1), 60-81. Miedel, W. & Reynolds, A. (1999). Parent involvement in early intervention for disadvantaged children: Does it matter? Journal of School Psychology, 37(4), 379-402. Swap, S. (1993). Developing home-school partnerships. New York: Teachers College Press. Read More