families, they become more interested in participating to see those efforts succeed (Ferlazzo & Hammond, 2009).
Traditional models for ELL Parental Involvement provide valuable suggestions regarding the types of support parents can offer to their children in different contexts (Arias & Morillo-Campbell, 2008). Epstein (2011) proposes a framework with six types of involvement in order to assist school-based teams of teachers, school principals, and parents who are in charge of improving family and community involvement, develop all-inclusive programs of school, family and community partnerships. Epstein (2011) Suggest the following six areas of parental involvement: 1) Parenting, 2) Communicating, 3) Volunteering, 4) Learning at home, 5) Decision making, and 6) Collaborating with the community.
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Arias and Morillo-Campbell (2008) suggest that programs that follow Epstein’s traditional typology to accommodate ELL parents should include cultural knowledge into the framework.
Arias and Morillo-Campbell (2008) explain that Non-traditional models of ELL parental involvement are focused on developing a reciprocal understanding between families and schools. These non-traditional approaches that promote parent involvement include the following elements: parental empowerment and integration of community. Arias and Morillo-Campbell (2008) describe the six areas from the traditional model of parental involvement as follows: 1) Assisting families with parenting skills, and ideas to create at home conditions conducive to learning. 2) Communicating with families in a two-way fashion in order to inform them about school activities and
the academic progress of their children. 3) Recruiting efforts to invite families to participate as volunteers and audiences in school programs. 4) Involving families with their children in academic activities at home. 5) Including families as participants in the decision making process at school. 6) Collaborating and coordinating with the efforts and resources of community partners, colleges and other groups that fortify different school programs. Arias and Morillo-Campbell (2008) explain the same six areas of parental involvement form the perspective of Non-traditional models as follows: 1) Assists in developing a mutual understanding between families and schools. 2) Includes cultural strengths of families and communities within the academic curriculum. 3) Offers parental education that involves family literacy and the understanding of the school community. 4) Encourages parental advocacy by informing and teaching parents in what ways they may advocate for their children. 5) Empowers parents through parent-initiated efforts at both school and community. 6) Applies cultural and linguistic practices in all aspects of communication. According to the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth (August & Shanahan, 2006), parents of ELLs could be valuable partners in the education of their children; however, schools often miss opportunities to involve or engage ELL parents in an effective manner. In addition, to missing these valuable opportunities, there are several barriers that often hinder the effective engagement of ELL parents, which include: a) school-based barriers; b) lack of proficiency in English; c) the parents’ educational level; d) disconnection between the culture at home and at school; and e) logistical issues (Arias & Morillo-Campbell, 2008). Arias and Morillo-Campbell (2008) indicate that school-based barriers involve a deficit perspective conducive to a negative school environment, which leads school staff to consider culturally and linguistically diverse student populations as “the problem” instead of reflecting on their lack of efficiency to working with these types of populations. Another aspect that schools with ELL populations need to correct is the unwelcome environment that discourages ELL parents from participating in school (Arias & Morillo-Campbell, 2008). The lack of English language proficiency is one of the most significant challenges to effective information and participation of ELL parents (Arias & Morillo-Campbell, 2008). Delgado, Huerta, and Campos (2012) report that many Hispanic parents show reluctance to become involved in their children’s education because they do not feel comfortable with their own language and academic skills. Other obstacles for promoting ELL parental engagement include the low level of formal education and lack of knowledge of the U.S. school system (Arias & Morillo-Campbell, 2008). According to Arias and Morillo-Campbell (2008), the ELL parent perception and expectations in regards to the roles that educators and parents should have in the educational process often are different from those of the school system. Many ELL parents have a perception that their role in educating their children should be providing nurturing, teaching values and instilling good behaviors. ELL parents perceive teachers as “the experts” and might be reluctant to take on responsibilities that they usually view as pertaining to the school system (Arias and Morillo-Campbell, 2008). Logistics is an additional barrier that limits ELL parent participation in schools. Transportation issues as well as labor-intensive work schedules constraint their presence in parent-teacher conferences, open house events and other type of participation opportunities in schools (Arias and Morillo-Campbell, 2008). Strategies for Engaging ELL Parents According to Mathis (2013), the education of ELLs could be significantly enhanced if schools work to strengthen parental involvement. Breiseth et al., 2011 propose to school principals the use of the following strategies in order to engage ELL families in school activities: 1. Learn about your ELL population. This point is important because knowing even basic information about students’ backgrounds may facilitate the school principal to match ELLs with proper school services (Breiseth, Robertson, & Lafond, 2011). Appropriate information that school principals need to know about their ELLs includes the countries of origin of his/her students; how many ELLs were born in the US; what languages they speak; if these students are migrants, refugees, or with interrupted formal education (Breiseth et al., 2011). 2. Integrate cultural traditions of ELLs throughout the school. According to Breiseth et al,. 2011, by including the cultural traditions of ELL families within the school community it creates a welcoming and respectful school environment. The practical considerations regarding this aspect include the following factors: a) Scheduling: the school principal should schedule around important cultural or religious holidays observed by the school community in order to avoid large number of students missing exams or school events; b) Classroom opportunities: teachers can create educational opportunities for students with different cultural backgrounds in order to cultivate a sense of respect among students for their classmates; c) Improved communication: When the school principals know about ELL family traditions they can avoid miscommunication that can damage a potential relationship. 3. Create a welcoming environment for ELL families. This factor can make a remarkable difference for all families that belong to the school community, including the families of ELLs (Breiseth et al., 2011). Applying this strategy will be important for immigrant families who might feel intimidated for the formal school environment and the English language they need to participate in school activities (Breiseth et al., 2011). The school principal can create this welcoming environment by doing these strategies: a) posting signs in multiple languages; b) displaying student work on the school walls; c) displaying maps and flags of the students’ original countries; d) having bilingual morning greeters to welcome students and their families (Breiseth et al., 2011). 4. Make a personal connection with families. Breiseth et al., 2011 suggest to school principals and their staff to take the time to get to know ELL families because this can assist in building a relationship based on trust that may allow students to experience academic success. In order to put this strategy in action, the school principal may hold a special back-to-school event for ELL families in which they have time to meet him/her or it can also be created a special welcome DVD in multiple languages (Breiseth et al., 2011). 5. Show the appreciation for families’ native languages. The school principal should respect parent’s intentions by assuring them that he/she respects their linguistic goals for their children (Breiseth et al., 2011). The school principal may explain parents of Ells that strong native language skills will help their kids to learn English (Breiseth et al., 2011). Some strategies to use in regards to this point include discussing with parents the importance of being bilingual and the value of strong first language skills, encouraging parents to read at home stories in their native language, offering courses or workshops to parents in their first language, providing resources to students in their first language in order to assist their learning, making available books in the students native
to choose their future. Starting from success, family and their individuality has been taken. Furthermore,
...lighted this feature because I value respect and feel that a very important aspect of working with children is engaging their families which invites opportunity for respect to be demonstrated. Dietze & Kashin (2012) explain the importance of engaging families when they state “Including the input of others is essential in a reflective practice and families have a right to be included” (p.411). In one of my placements I saw the positive impact that including a parent had on a young boy when his mother came in to read a story to the. The boy’s self-esteem seemed to increase and could be seen in the way that he beamed the whole time she was there. This experience highlighted to me the importance of family involvement in an early childhood program. These three highlighted statements all reflect values that are important to me and which are important parts of my practice.
...or parents to become actively involved in their child’s academics. Research supports that as a child ages parental involvement decreases, this is a vast problem that through communication, school activities, sending parent notices, and etc. could be fixed.
Parent school involvement in children’s education is associated with positive outcomes, educational and otherwise. Within the last two decades parent involvement has increased in American schools. While initially parents were
“Parental involvement shows to be an important factor that definitely has an impact on children’s education. Parental involvement refers to amount of participation a parent has when it comes to school and their child/children’s life. Some schools foster healthy parental involvement through events and volunteer opportunities but
Parenting styles are as diverse as parents themselves. Parenting is one of the most challenging and difficult responsibilities a person can face. The way a family is structured is called the parenting style. Parenting styles are collections of parental attitudes, practices, and non-verbal expressions that characterize the nature of parent-child relationships. Because individuals learn how to parent from many different examples including their own parents, role models, society and life experiences. Parenting techniques can vary greatly from household to household, however, experts believe that parenting styles can be broken down into four main categories which include permissive,authoritarian,authoritative,and neglectful.
As a mean to supporting family engagement and child’s learning, it is crucial that programs implement strategies for developing partnerships with families. But do the children benefit from effective family engagement? Family engagement pertains to all young children across ethnic backgrounds and early childhood education programs. Parents from diverse backgrounds, when given direction, can become more engaged with their children. Family Engagement is important for young children’s skill. The skills include literacy, cognitive, math, and social development. When the families engage in their children’s education with the help of other educator’s assistance, this supports the early childhood learning, which is a very critical part to success
Family involvement today goes far beyond attending parent-teacher conferences, awards ceremonies, and chaperoning on school field trips. Educator’s expectations for parental involvement has changed, and there is a plethora of research that proves that involvement of parents in early childhood education is essential to the success of students. Research points to the following three points as the main reasons why parental involvement in early childhood education is important and beneficial:
Parents and their parenting style play an important role in the development of their child. In fact, many child experts suggest that parenting style can affect a child’s social, cognitive, and psychological development which influence not just their childhood years, but it will also extend throughout their adult life. This is because a child’s development takes place through a number of stimuli, interaction, and exchanges that surround him or her. And since parents are generally a fixed presence in a child’s life, they will likely have a significant part on the child’s positive or negative development (Gur 25).
Parent involvement is one of the most influential aspects of student motivation. The parents are the initial teachers of the child before the child goes to school and encounters education through a teacher. If a parent is completely engaged in the learning process with a child, there can be growth between the child and the parent simultaneously. The parents set an example for the child, so that the child understands that help is in the classroom and at home. Alma Wright, a first and second grade teacher, believes that parents in the classroom are a good way to stimulate children. She says, “Their active participation is a positive influence. The school is open for parents to share their talents and motivate their children” (Drew, Olds, and Olds, 1974, p. 71).
A lot of children have two main educators in their life; their parents and their teachers. Parents are their first educators, the majority of what a child learns in the first few years of their life is taught by their parents. It is only when the child starts to attend an early years setting that they start to learn from another educator. Both parents and teachers continue being a major influence on their children's learning all throughout school and for the rest of their lives. The parents and the child's school both have important roles to play in the child's education and should therefore work together as a team. Parents can get involved in many different ways such as; getting involved with the school itself by helping in the classroom or supervising lunch and break times, or for those parents who work in the day and cannot find the time to help at the school they can get involved by; reading to their child at home, assisting with homework and other learning activities, teaching them songs or nursery rhymes and letting them help with everyday tasks like cooking, baking and chores. This can be categorised as: Involvement of parents in the school life or involvement of parents in supporting the individual child at home.
The school that she teaches at engages families through a variety of activities and volunteer opportunities. The school has family nights, which include healthy cooking demonstrations, dance and exercise classes, and other family building activities. She also shared with me that in the school there are a lot of volunteering and field trips taken throughout the year that gets the students out in the community. However, one of the challenges families are encountering is that more families are having to have ...
The support of a parent is the single most important factor in predicting success in school for young children (Bourquin). Parents who make it a point to get involved with the child’s education are communicating the importance of education to their child (Heffer). There are a variety of ways in which a parent can get involved. This can range from at home help and encouragement with homework, attending athletic ...
Parental involvement promotes the social growth of a child. Children whose parents are involved in their education have many advantages. They have better grades, test scores, long-term academic achievement, attitudes and behavior than those with disinterested mothers and fathers (Gestwicki, 2001). Parents becoming involved in their child's schooling creates extra sources of social constraint to influence the child's behavior (McNeal, 2001). For example, parents talking to their children and becoming involved in the school conveys a message to the child of education being important. Parents should be talking with your children's teacher and letting her know about your family. The more she knows about your child, the better she will be able to connect with your child.
There are many benefits to teachings having a good relationship with the student’s family, guardian, or parents. Teachers should begin the school year with building positive relationships with the student’s families. In the book it mentions that there is ongoing research that indicates the benefits of family involvement in children’s education. Some of these benefits mentioned were children earning higher grades, tend to have better attendance, have higher rates of homework completion, and are more motivated and have positive attitudes towards school. Through the reading it also emphasizes on the increase in family involvement in children’s education will result in a decrease in students participating in substance abuse and violence. Students