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 g3QHacu20289; Fri, 26 Apr 2002 13:36:38 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2002 13:36:38 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <16.1e350170.29fae92d@aol.com> 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: AWilder106@aol.com To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:1022] Re: Parents as first teachers (long) X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Mac - Post-GM sub 146 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Status: O Content-Length: 1287 Lines: 22 Tracie, You are your child's first teacher. I wish I could help in some way. The fact is that a school is a whole community itself. I got to know the parents of "my" kids best when I went to their homes for regular conferences. At my school we had parent conferences twice a year. When I got my master's degree I learned about home visits, and when I went back to the classroom I gave parents the option of having a conference at their home in the evening. It was a wonderful innovation, and some families took me up on this. The teacher will teach better if she sees the home environment, I believe--it's your place, and she has to be a guest. I am thinking that some of your parents could get together and invite one or more teachers home for a potluck. Don't make it big or it will loose its impact. Keep it focused on specific questions and this will help the conversation along. Or invite teacher(s) for coffee, that might be easier than juggling plates. It would be of great benefit for your children's experience in school. Each time I did this I learned about parents' inner fears about their children's school experience, and this helped me a lot in the classroom to work more effectively with the children. I visited one family at a time. Andrea
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