A day with two families: diversity of experience -- The Lawrence family -- The Ashley family -- Implications for teachers -- Diversity -- Families today -- What defines a family? -- Demographics of modern families -- Why study sociological trends? -- Parenting -- Roles parents play -- Parenthood as an emotional experience -- Teacher-family partnerships in education -- What is family involvement? -- Perspectives on family involvement -- A brief history of family involvement -- Research on child development as motivation to include parents -- Mandated parent involvement -- Community concern for family support -- Benefits of teacher-family partnerships for children, parents and teachers -- Benefits for children -- Benefits for parents -- Benefits for teachers -- Potential barriers to teacher-family partnerships -- Why are there barriers? -- Differences between teaching and parenting -- Maneuvering over turf -- The issue of trust -- Differences in expertise -- Barriers caused by external factors -- Foundations of a successful partnership -- Teacher ideas and attitudes -- External factors -- Methods for developing partnerships -- At the beginning with parents and children -- Initial contact between teacher, parent, and child -- Dealing with separation experiences -- Informal communication with families -- Communication methods -- Parent-teacher conferences -- Importance of regular conferences -- Groundwork for a successful conference -- Strategies for a successful conference -- Pitfalls to avoid for a successful conference -- Difficult conferences -- Conference evaluation -- Home visits with parents and children -- Purposes of home visits -- Undertaking home visits -- Postvisit responsibilities -- Advantages of home visits -- Disadvantages of home visits -- Home-based educational and support programs -- Families in the classroom -- Advantages and potential problems -- Getting families involved -- The teacher's role -- Parent education -- What is parent education? -- Implementing a parent education program -- Parents as decision makers -- It takes a village: teachers, families, and communities -- Corporate involvement -- Legislative initiatives -- Linkages within the community -- The role of advocate -- Community as an educational resource -- Making a partnership work -- Working with families from diverse backgrounds -- A rationale for teacher attention to diversity -- Strategies for teachers -- Negotiating with cultural conflict -- Common cultural issues that arise in classrooms -- What does working with diversity look like? -- Working with families in particular circumstances -- Working with families undergoing change due to divorce -- Working with parents of children with special needs -- Working with families of infants -- Working with families when abuse occurs -- Working with adoptive families -- Working to resolve troublesome attitudes and behaviors -- Hostility -- Indifference -- Overinvolvement -- Frequent causes of tension between parents and teachers -- Looking at parent involvement programs that work -- Lakewood Preschool Cooperative, Charlotte, North Carolina -- Family Resource Center, Fort Myers, Florida -- Gorham House Preschool, Gorham, Maine -- Lincoln Nursery School, Lincoln, Massachusetts -- Appendix: resource directory.
Summary:
This practical text is designed to meet the needs of students, administrators, and teachers of children of all ages who are trying to create effective partnerships with families. It provides an overview of modern families and their complex roles, to sensitize teachers to the diversity and needs of families they will encounter. The text discusses fully both the benefits of creating productive partnerships and the barriers that teachers must work beyond. Practical and effective communication strategies are described, with abundant examples. Emphasis is placed on current developments in the field of early childhood education, legislative mandates in education, and position statements from professional organizations. A discussion of No Child Left Behind and updated NAEYC Code of Ethics accreditation standards for programs and for teacher education supports this emphasis. - Publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.