Research has shown that, "The most accurate predictors of student achievement in school are not family income or social status, but the extent to which the family creates a home environment that encourages learning, communicates high yet reasonable expectations for the child's achievement, and becomes involved in the child's education at school." Parental involvement activities not only help promote student achievement, but they also empower parents with tools and confidence to support their children's educations.
Any time schools can bring families in, magic can happen! Parents feel a part of the education team for their children, they glean ideas and actionable strategies, families learn together, and students ultimately benefit. Our school recently hosted a family literacy night, a two-hour event where families of students of all ages from our school rotated through several carefully chosen activity stations. We learned several things along the way.1. Establish and Maintain Your Goals
When we began the initial planning process for our event, we had two very clear goals: keep literacy at the center of each activity and provide families with actionable, real-world ways to promote their children's literacy at home. These goals seem simple and easy to follow through, but it can be surprising how easy it is to stray from your goals when planning a family event. There is a plethora of ideas at our fingertips online and elsewhere, and ideas can quickly grow too broad without specific goal-setting and conversations. We very much wanted our event to be a fun, great experience for our families, but we also had to work hard to make sure that each activity had a clear purpose with literacy at the center, beyond just family fun. Magic happens when the fun and learning come together!
2. Plan, Plan, and Plan Some More
Building a strong planning team was one of the greatest reasons our event was successful. Teachers from various grade levels and subject areas, administrators, our librarian, and our speech-language pathologist met several times to discuss and plan our event. Every detail had to be considered, from logistical pieces such as the direction of the activity rotations through the school, to materials lists, to collecting survey data, to dividing up the groups, etc. A strong planning team is an asset because several minds considering things and bringing ideas opens up the possibilities and ensures no detail is overlooked.
3. Think Outside the Box
Events like this are great opportunities to get creative! While keeping with our two goals, we worked hard to provide activities that were engaging and, perhaps, different than what our families may have expected as "literacy" activities. We had one activity station centered solely on skill-building games families can play at home. The games ranged from phonics builders, to responding to reading, to story elements, to sight words, and more! Another activity was a reading response science connection with animal adaptations. Families of older students loved "Speed Dating" a book, where they learned how to pick a just-right book for their child. They enjoyed learning about easily accessible online resources that can be used outside the classroom. One of the family-favorite activities was a math-literacy connection where students read a recipe, sequenced the steps, and then followed the directions to create either cookie dough or pudding play dough. The conversations were amazing! One parent thought the recipe was a little dry and added extra water, causing the play dough to not form correctly. A tiny first grade voice popped up, "Mom, see why it's so important to read carefully? We didn't follow directions." Parents remarked all throughout the night how nice it was to see a connection to other subject areas, and that this may help their reluctant readers. As educators, we know the connection between literacy and other subject areas, but we have to be cautious to not simply assume our families know the same.
Most events require supplies, and in turn, require money. This is where we had to get creative! We asked local businesses to donate to our cause, local bookstores donated books and supplies, and restaurants contributed gift certificates for prizes. But resources are not confined to supplies and money. Some of the best resources are people. Our local librarian came for a session with families to share the resources and activities our library has to offer, and she walked them through registering for a library card. Our speech-language pathologist shared developmental milestones with parents of our younger students, and she talked of the speech-language connection. And the fantastic ideas from the diverse people on our team were absolutely invaluable!
5. Promote, Communicate, and Build Excitement
In order for a family event to accomplish its goals, people have to attend! Parents need to know why attending an event at school on a weeknight is worth their time and attendance! We built initial excitement for the event with a flyer sent home, then sent invitations with an RSVP portion, promoted our event on social media, sent out school messenger telephone messages, and worked to build excitement among our students in our classrooms. Many adults in attendance made comments such as, "Not coming wasn't an option. Our son would have never let it go." The best comments though, were the ones such as, "I'm so glad we came. I have learned so much."
6. Reflect
A huge part of hosting a successful event is thinking ahead of ways to improve. What went well? What could be done differently? Our Family Literacy Night went very well, but we know there are ways we can make it better next time. Can specific logistics be tweaked to make things run more smoothly? Can certain activities be improved? We have parent surveys and planning team surveys for analysis, notes were made along the way, and planning team discussion. No event is ever perfect, but constant reflection during and after the event helps to make it the very best event possible for your school!
It is important to view parents as partners in our work. When we work to empower parents with the tools, strategies, and confidence to support their children's educations, most families welcome it with open arms. View parents as teammates in educating the children in our classrooms, and work together toward that goal. As stated so well by Hendeson and Berla, "The more comprehensive and well-planned the partnership between school and home, the higher student achievement."
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