Creating Connections

It takes a village to raise a child.

As educators, we know the importance of developing and maintaining a constant and clear line of communication with caregivers and school.

Research shows that students who have a passion for reading will develop better reading comprehension skills than students who only read in school (Jennifer & Ponniah, 2015). Creating and fostering a connection between school and home helps students develop deeper learning gains  (Dennis & Margarella, 2017). This is especially true when discussing developing a passion for reading. Before we can jump into the foundation of encouraging a reading regimen at home, we need to build a trust relationship with the families as well as the students (Risko & Walker-Dalhouse, 2023)

So what are some ways that we can create and strengthen the school to home communication?

1. Create a welcoming environment.

   School needs to be a safe place, not just for students but for parents and teachers as well (Kelty & Wakabayashi, 2020). By ensuring that caregivers feel they can approach the faculty, staff, and administration with questions or concerns is a key component to developing an environment that welcomes caregivers into the building, and the school community.

2. Provide support for parents.

   Giving parents a place where they can find support and answers for their big questions is necessary to opening a line of communication. When parents feel they can turn to a school for help in applying for colleges, information on financial literacy, resources for teaching their children safe technology usage (Kelty & Wakabayashi, 2020). By making school a place where parents seek information for themselves, we are developing the concept of school as a place to find information in general.

3. Generate community involvement.

   Getting the community involved in the school environment is part of encouraging and growing relationships between school and home. This can be through the concept of Family Literacy Nights, or other aspects of the school as a center of the community (Ross, 2023). By making school a central aspect, it becomes a trustworthy resource for the community and families.

4. Practice positive communication.

   Making a habit of communicating with families for positive behaviors is necessary to build a relationship between schools and caregivers (Gerzon-Kessler, 2023). Building a bridge to develop a relationship between school and home starts with open lines of communication.

   
   

Creating this foundation of school to home communication is the start of developing a strong relationship that will support the students, families, and school in their shared endeavor. Once this foundation of communication has been established, we can work on furthering the support for literacy in homes.

References:

Dennis, D. V., & Margarella, E. E. (2017). Family Literacy Nights: How Participation Impacts Reading Attitudes. Literacy Practice & Research, 42(3), 47–52. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=eue&AN=126936638&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s6527200

Gerzon-Kessler, A. (2023). 7 ways to promote positive communication with families. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/positive-family-communication-schools

Jennifer, J. M., & Ponniah, R. J. (2015). Pleasure Reading Cures Readicide and Facilitates Academic Reading. Journal on English Language Teaching, 5(4), 1–5. https://doi.org/https://www.imanagerpublications.com/JournalIntroduction.aspx?journal=imanagersJournalonEnglishLanguageTeaching

Kelty, N. E., & Wakabayashi, T. (2020). Family engagement in schools: Parent, educator, and community perspectives. Sage Open, 10(4), 2158244020973024. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2158244020973024

Risko, V.J., & Walker-Dalhouse, D. (2023). Best practices to change the trajectory of students experiencing reading difficulties. In L.M. Morrow, E. Morrell, & H.K. Casey, (Eds). Best practices in literacy instruction (7th ed.) pp. 354-376. The Guilford Press

Ross, E.M. (2023). The case for strong family and community engagement in schools. Harvard Graduate School of Education. https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/23/03/case-strong-family-and-community-engagement-schools