Cultivating Parent Partnerships, Part 2

Yesterday I did a post on cultivating parent partnerships and why this should be our goal as educators. Parents/caregivers of your ESL students may be even more hesitant to come to the school or initiate contact with you, so I wanted to give you some information on home visits to give you even more tools to cultivate those partnerships. Here are some tips to having a quality home visit:

• Allow the family to do the majority of the talking and question asking
• View the home visit as a way to step into your student's world
• Listen attentively
• Let your agenda be nothing else but to learn from the family; don't try to hold a parent/teacher conference
• Gather information that can be used in the curriculum or to make future connections with the student

According to Powell and Rightmyer (2011), "Research shows that there are many positive benefits to conducting home visits. Families tend to change their attitudes towards the educational process, their ability to work successfully with their child improves, and they begin to utilize outside resources more often. Children demonstrate positive behavior changes and their self-esteem improves. Most importantly, the gap between home and school is bridged. Families begin to feel empowered and a real sense of partnership develops. Friendships are formed and mutual trust and respect can be found"(p. 75).

What better incentive could we need to try a home visit soon?!

Source: Powell, R. & Rightmyer, E.C. (2011). Literacy for all students. New York: Routledge.