Circle of learning

Teaching Pre K-8, Apr 2001 by Ditzler, Karen

An evening program for parents, children and educators gives everyone an opportunity to learn - and to teach

Teachers teach. Students learn. That's the way it works, right? Well, not exactly! Education involves many people, such as teachers, students, parents, other school-staff members and community members. Everyone involved takes on the role of teacher and learner at different times in the educational process. Teachers at our elementary school feel that we are part of a "circle of learning." It was this philosophy that led us to work together to implement a program called "Parents as Partners," which involves parents in their children's education and also educates parents at the same time.

Keeping parents involved. Like many other teachers, we recognized that parents should be kept informed about their children's education. We wrote weekly newsletters, sent positive postcards and invited parents to volunteer in our classrooms, but this didn't seem to be enough. Parents knew what was happening at school, but a stronger connection was needed to link school and home. We decided that an Informational Session/Make-- and-Take Workshop would be the best way to educate and involve parents. We also saw this as an opportunity to involve other staff members and community members.

Our Parents as Partners workshops have been implemented for the past three years. We hold four workshops a year. Each session is held in the evening for one hour and follows the same schedule, which can be seen in the box to the right.

Rave reviews. Everyone involved in the program -- parents, students and teachers - had positive comments when they were asked about their feelings regarding the program. Parents felt that their children were proud and excited to bring them into the school. They commented on how the projects fostered creativity and positive interaction between school and home. Some parents enjoyed working one-on-one with their child without interruptions. The parents also felt that they gained knowledge from the informational session and had new ideas to use at home.

Teachers enjoyed being able to talk with parents and students in an informal setting They felt that it was important for parents to be involved in the planning of the programs and they also thought it was a great way to help parents understand some positive ways to help their children learn. Teachers also learned new things from the informational session.

Students thought that the Make-and-Take part of the workshop was lots of fun. They liked having friends, parent and teachers all together outside of regular school time, and they liked being able to take their Make-and-- Take learning tool home to use it there.

Through our "Parents as Partners" program, everyone involved became a teacher and a learner. There was positive energy and positive results for all. The "circle of learning" is complete!

INTERNET CONNECTIONS

TOPIC: PARENT VOLUNTEERS

1 NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR PARENT INVOLVEMENT: www.pta.org/pro grams/stnrdtoc.htm The National PTA outlines standards with research to support the need for parent involvement. Many sample activities and links to programs to help implement the standards. A link to the PTA is here as well.

2 NATIONAL PARENT INFORMATION NETWORK http://npin.org/ NPIN provides research-based information on parenting and family involvement in education.

3 PARENT COMMUNICATION: www.teachervision.com/tv/connect/par entcomm/index.html/ TeacherVision.com on the Learning Network has dozens of strategies, by grade level, for parents on how to partner in their child's learning.

Karen Ditzler has been teaching second grade at Mt. Zion Elementary, Lewisberry, PA, for five years.