When the bell rings and the school day is finished, educators hope their students’ education and growth continue in their home environment. Regretfully, many teachers know that for some students, once they leave the classroom much of the curriculum they work on during the day stays in their bookbag. It’s a question that reading teachers face every year: how can we open lines of communication with families and increase their involvement in literacy to help students keep exploring, discovering, and obtaining knowledge at home?
Families are a student’s first teachers and they remain central to the learning experience throughout their child’s school years. Indeed, it is widely acknowledged that family involvement is crucial to student success. Students whose parents remain involved been shown to maintain higher levels of academic achievement (11). These students also develop more realistic plans for the future and are more likely to graduate from high school (3). For many students, their first encounter with literacy education starts at home — such as being read a book, told a story, or learning to communicate. In seeking to retain this involvement, many educators and district leaders are actively looking for ways to further engage and empower families to be partners in literacy. Below, we’ve gathered insight and background into opening lines of communication with parents and families, providing parents with instructional practice tools, teaming up with community, and instilling a growth mindset in students and their parents.
