Introduction to Family Engagement  

Shared with permission from the creators:

Terry Matherne, Director of Federal Programs

Sharon Woolf, Title I Coordinator
St. Charles Parish Schools, LA

After Terry Matherne and Sharon Woolf participated in the two days of PPE Initial Parent Educator training, they designed this activity to get buy-in from the Parent Advisory Committees, principals and teachers of the schools in their district. They made the sessions interactive and fun and provided door prizes. Three brief Sessions (30 minutes each) are designed to be presented first by the trained PPE facilitator in each school to that school's Parent Advisory Committee. After that, the PPE Facilitator and the Parent Advisory Committee would collaborate to present the sessions to the faculty. 

Objectives:

• To connect family engagement to Maslow's Hierarchy
• To become familiar with influences of students
• To connect teaching styles with parenting styles
• To develop ideas to engage families

Session 1 

• Ice Breaker - Putting paper clips on cut out paper dolls to represent each factor that may be affecting a child in the school or classroom (Activity from PPE training)
• Learning Activity - Connect the icebreaker activity with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. (Use Module 2.1, pages 11 and 15.) Stress the fact that if safety and basic physiological needs are not met, parents are not ready for classes and training. Use Module 5.6, handout #2 for that discussion.

Session 2 

• Learning Activity - Discuss the areas that have been determined by research in the introduction to Module 5.6, pages 3 and 4. Explore ways that teachers' opinions may differ.
• Explore teaching styles using Parenting Styles Module 1.1. Connect teaching and parenting styles.
• Close with information about Family Systems from Module 1.2, page 3.

Session 3 

• Discuss the "Education Triad," Module 5.6, page 10. Distribute "Children Learn Best When" Module 5.6, page 11 and make the connection that the same environment and support is needed at home and at school.
• Conclude the session with Modules 5.6, page 12, "Parent Involvement that Makes a Difference."

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PPE in Action

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How Much Is Enough?

by Jean Illsley Clarke

Author of How Much Is Enough? Everything You Need to Know to Steer Clear of Overindulgence and Raise Likeable, Responsible, and Respectful Children

"More, more, I want more," is a child's normal response to something he is enjoying. After all, doesn't the Declaration of Independence assure him that he has the right to pursue happiness? It does, but the word pursue does not imply that it will be handed to him. He must create it. All parents want their children to be happy. But, giving a child everything she wants teaches her that others are supposed to make her happy, and even though parents' intent may be good, the outcome of giving too much often leads to unhappiness.

Parents also want their children to become competent, but in the Overindulgence Research Studies, adults who were overindulged as children repeatedly complained about the many areas in which they are not competent and about how much pain they experience. The book How Much Is Enough? is based on these studies. The most frequent complaint about the aftereffect of childhood overindulgence by the adults in the research studies was "I don't know what is enough."

Here are three examples of answers to the Study I question: In your adult life do you have difficulty knowing what is enough or what is normal?

• "Yes, when is there enough money?"
• "Yes, I tend to overdo everything work, spending, acquiring things, talking, eating."
• "I am terrified of being insatiable."

What can parents do to avoid giving children too much?   Click here to read full article.

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A Great Collaboration - Don't Miss It

2011 Statewide Parental Involvement Conference, December 8-10, 2011

 

PPE is collaborating with Texas Education Service Center 16 on its Statewide Parental Involvement Conference in Dallas, December 8-10, 2011.

PPE's Educational Consultants will be "strutting their stuff," as many of you know they enjoy doing, during the pre-conference on Thursday morning, December 8, 2011.

They are calling this all morning session "Real Life Strategies for Family Engagement: Fulfilling Title I Guidelines with Flair" and it will show ways (1) to connect with families who are hard to reach, (2) to engage families and schools with African American boys in ways that will increase their academic achievement, (3) how to use innovative technology to connect with families, (4) to market a school culture that welcomes families, and (5) to show parents how much power they really have to determine their children's academic outcomes.

The presentation will be interactive and fast-paced. Participants will leave with ideas and materials that they can implement when they get back to their schools.

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Coming with your renewal for 2011-2012

Middle School FOCUS

FOCUS: PPE in the Middle School will provide a framework for creating an effective parent engagement program in middle schools using PPE curricula. It presents some of the research on teenage brains that sheds light why strategies that worked in elementary school do not work in secondary.

Many of the successful strategies described are ideas that the PPE Educational Consultants have brought back from their trainings across the country. In addition, it identifies modules and Quick Tips that are particularly appropriate for our pre-adolescents as well as adding three new Quick Tips.

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Initial Parent Educator

Training Schedule

• Lowndes, MS - Nov 7, 2011

Click here for complete information and training registration