The more comfortable a parent feels with your service and your approach, the more likely they are to engage and collaborate in the learning. Working parents can sometimes feel left out if they’re not able to volunteer regularly. var s = document.createElement('script'); Here are four ways to cut through, to engage parents and make them part of your extended learning team: Your teachers are passionate about their kids. Increasing parental involvement begins with having the capacity to educate parents on … You will then receive an email that helps you regain access. Unmanageable Volume of Communications. A Struggle of Online Learning: Too Remote to Connect, How School Districts Should Respond to Ransomware Attacks. The owner of this site is using Wordfence to manage access to their site.

Education. If you think you have been blocked in error, contact the owner of this site for assistance. Like white noise, the effectiveness of communications falls drastically as the volume of communications increase. It’s the kind of passion parents of any generation will respond to. In the first weeks of school, some teachers engage with parents via email and online surveys to figure out the best way to communicate and give parents advice on how they can be involved with their students’ learning. While districts need to adjust, it’s not an insurmountable challenge because many of these technologies are in use already. This article is part of the "Connect IT: Bridging the Gap Between Education and Technology" series. Think of this list as a great way to get organized. They are looking to engage and respond if the invitation is there. Experts and regulators see parent engagement in early childhood education as one the most powerful drivers of better educational outcomes. Here are a few suggestions: Sending a steady stream of one-way emails or updates that do not invite a response is so 2009! In the words of a report by researchers AC Baker and Manfredi Petitt for the National Association for the Education of Young Children, “Young children do best – now and later – when they are nurtured within a tightly woven web of love.”. And yet, engaging parents is not getting any easier.

Working parents can sometimes feel left out if they’re not able to … ","$color":"blue"}), Copyright notice:  © 2020 Educa Ltd - All rights reserved. New Zealand: 0800 233 822 Another email blast or is there a better option? He spent two years as an elementary teacher, two years as an educational trainer, 10 years as a director of technology and six years as a school superintendent. A lot of young parents become intimidated by formal conferences or can’t get time off work to attend. Parents learn how well their children are progressing in developing the building blocks of learning. This context resonates for parents, it gives them confidence in the learning that goes on at your service. As more millennials become parents they will expect school districts to use technology to communicate with them and their students. For instance, one report shows stories posted and parent reactions. Learning stories with photos speak the language of millennial parents. Pearson offers eight points that specify how digital tools can improve parent engagement: SIGN UP: Get more news from the EdTech newsletter in your inbox every two weeks! While districts need to adjust, it’s not an insurmountable challenge because many of these technologies are in use already. (HTTP response code 503). Recommend activities at home that build on the learning during the day, to extend the learning. Part of parent engagement in early education is parent involvement. Beg for more time Ask parents to share their concerns and opinions about school, and then address those concerns. Think of this list as a great way to get organized. For a teacher, finding the right way to reliably communicate … For example, students can develop digital portfolios to access all of their college readiness work, resumes, informational interviews, essays for college and scholarship applications. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Regulators, early education experts and quality assurance agencies are placing more and more emphasis on parent engagement.

Make sure parents know you and your staff. You can also read the documentation to learn about Wordfence's blocking tools, or visit wordfence.com to learn more about Wordfence. It gives parents a better understanding of how you are helping to prepare their children for success in school. 30 K–12 IT Influencers Worth a Follow in 2020, 8 Tips to Strengthen Parent Involvement With Digital Tools, How New Features in Collaboration Suites Power Classrooms, Survey: Education Among Top Industries for AR/VR Investments, 3 Ways to Configure Windows 10 for a Distraction-Free Experience, Digital Signage Growth Helps K–12 Schools Get Their Messages Out, Modern Classrooms and Personalized Learning Are the Perfect Pair, Q&A: Andrew Arevalo on How Remote Learning Paves the Way for Innovation, How Mimeographs Transformed Information Sharing in Schools, 5 Steps to a Successful K–12 STEM Program Design.

These tools help extend learning beyond the classroom and give parents enrichment tips and ideas for learning activities they can do at home. You will have a better understanding of children’s background and experiences. For a teacher, finding the right way to reliably communicate is daunting, especially as the channels of communication keep evolving. Curtiss Strietelmeier is a K–12 analyst for CDW•G.

However, parents really do want to hear from you, they do want to engage. Every parent will respond to an update from you that includes a picture that catches their child in the act of learning something. Really great ideas from Educa for parents to get really involved and close to their children’s education. And because the information resides on the cloud students can access it any place, any time. Google Hangout, Skype and FaceTime let parents participate in class activities while being in a remote location. Copyright notice:  © 2020 Educa Ltd - All rights reserved. Today’s parents are: They care more than ever about the educational trajectory of their preschooler. Encourage parents to volunteer. Teachers and administrators at K–12 schools recognize the positive impact of parent engagement on student achievement, so many schools and districts now leverage technology to power better and more meaningful relationships with parents and families. And, when they better understand the value, it encourages to continue the activities at home, the ultimate sign of family engagement. Does that passion come out in your communications with parents? That’s 20 opportunities each month to make parents part of your program and active contributors to their child’s education. As more millennials become parents they will expect school districts to use technology to communicate with them and their students. Even with the best intentions, teachers sometimes find it easier to communicate with children than their parents!

Every time a child makes a step forward, your teachers are thrilled.

National Association for the Education of Young Children, communications preferably all in one place, Partnering With Parents in At-Home Early Learning, Neuro-Nurturing: Deborah McNelis on Child Brain Development. Resist adding to the digital clutter. United States: 877 424 6062 Technologies such as welcome videos for new families and individual private digital portfolios enable teachers and parents to work together to provide children with the best possible start. Educational research group Pearson reports that there’s increasing awareness and recognition among teachers and administrators that traditional parent-teacher conferences yield limited results, particularly for traditionally marginalized student populations. Australia: 1800 797 518 From podcasters to bloggers and speakers, these influential figures are helping school leaders, IT decision-makers and educators navigate today’s uncertain educational landscape. Or it could be that a teacher is using an interest and/or a strength to develop a weakness. Face to face communication about a growth moment is hard to beat.

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Using modern data tools, teachers can get this information to parents much faster, as opposed to waiting until the end of the quarter when it’s often too late. For instance, play doh activities could be connected to fine motor skills. Please join the discussion on Twitter by using the #ConnectIT hashtag. And so, when sending updates or stories consider adding a question, inviting a specific parent response. Teachers can now use data tools to show parents where their students excel and where they need improvement. If a parent understands and is excited by the value of an activity, she is more likely to continue the learning at home.

When students, teachers, and families work together, everything functions smoother, which produces more effective teaching and, therefore, citizens.

Today’s parent has a jammed email inbox. Apps such as Remind are great for this and parents will appreciate being more connected.

The way to provide this educational context to each activity is to connect the photos and stories a teacher’s plan, to a child’s individual learning goals and/or to state guidelines using an online portfolio system where the context and linking is clear. However, most of the time you will need to find an online option, with communications preferably all in one place, on one channel.

If you are a WordPress user with administrative privileges on this site, please enter your email address in the box below and click "Send". Our software, Educa, gives preschool teachers a way to document the information they gather about children’s learning and development, and to share that information with the people who matters most in a child’s life. Or register for a webinar here. For any school and teacher, time is the number one enemy. Neither do text emails. Generated by Wordfence at Thu, 1 Oct 2020 7:18:26 GMT.Your computer's time: document.write(new Date().toUTCString());. Another tracks parent visits — parents are active, and probably more important, which parents are not. And more likely to provide feedback that will might improve the way your teachers run that activity next time. It’s not just play.

Parent engagement is one of few win wins in education. Teachers can provide guidance on how parents can help with certain assignments and parents can provide feedback on areas where their child may need extra help. The strategies here can help you increase parent engagement at your school. Parents are the world experts on their children and so their feedback is invaluable. The way a parent consumes information and relates to her providers, and that includes you, is also changing. With many parents working, on travel away from the office or with other children at home it’s often hard to come to the school, so videoconference tools come in handy.