Return-Path: <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id g3UJZiu24766; Tue, 30 Apr 2002 15:35:44 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2002 15:35:44 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <C50587E3B025D3118DDB00A0C9FC3C5E02F3CE77@EXCHANGE> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Virginia Tardaewether <tarv@exchange.chemeketa.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:1046] RE: Home visits X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Type: text/plain; X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2653.19) Status: O Content-Length: 4009 Lines: 86 I have some understanding of the trust issue. One just needs to think of the history of your Russians, etc. perhaps to see why governmental trust might be an issue. My family was investigated by the FBI because they talked Russian on a party telephone line. We have plenty of US born students with similar feelings. As an adult educator, I have found home visits to be imensely helpful as an evaluation of the effectiveness of my classroom lessons. When you do lessons around nutrition, the contents of shelves and refrigerators should change as a result. What better place to see truly the impact of your teachings. If you talk about childhood safety yet go to the home and see numerous unsafe items that you had talked about, well it lets you know that the lesson didn't transfer to another environment and that you need to revisit the concepts. PLUS it is wonderful to have the children and adults show you their home, special places and nick nacks. Va Virginia Tardaewether Chemeketa {Place of Peace} Outreach Instructor Dallas, OR 97338 tarv@chemeketa.edu 503-316-3242 -----Original Message----- From: Sylvan Rainwater [mailto:sylvan@cccchs.org] Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2002 12:01 PM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:1044] Home visits At 04:31 PM 04/26/2002 -0400, Tracie Janis wrote: >Thanks Andrea, the district where my daughters attend offered home visits >from teachers. I didn't take advantage of the offer at the time because my >schedule at work is crazy! It appears from your experience that the home >visits were a great success. ><SNIP> Home visits are an integral part of our program. It's my understanding that at least at some point Even Start had a requirement of 4 home visits per year? We do 2 per month, so are clearly over any minimums. We emphasize home visits because we are part of a Head Start program that emphasizes home visits, and we have found them to be a very effective way to enhance family learning and involvement. We can give individual help to families on home visits, whether that involves social services or educational goals. It gives an opportunity, as noted by others, to have the family on their own turf, where they are sometimes more relaxed than in a classroom. It also gives you a lot more information about the students (both children and adults) by seeing the environment where they live, and can provide opportunities to make suggestions that are appropriate for that particular household. It is true that some people really don't want home visits. We've made few inroads into the Russian-speaking community, and I understand that one of the reasons is that they have such deep distrust of anything remotely governmental coming into their homes that they just can't deal with our program. We try to make accommodations by going to libraries or other public places, and even having visits in our centers if they prefer, because usually once they get to know us and have a relationship with us, they are more at ease about inviting us into their homes. We stress up front when we do recruitment that home visits are as much a part of the program as attending the class. And we find that when we share information as a team, children's teachers, home visitors, and parent teachers, that we can get a more accurate picture of each family and its needs, and can support each other's work with ideas and insights that we wouldn't get otherwise. It does seem that I've heard more recently about home visits happening in public school settings, and that teachers are finding them beneficial. Most children are jazzed when the teacher comes to the home, and feel more important and proud as a result. They form a relationship with the teacher that enhances the classroom experience a lot. ------------------------------ Sylvan Rainwater . sylvan@cccchs.org Adult Education Teacher and Family Literacy Program Manager Clackamas County Children's Commission . Oregon City, OR USA
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