Six Ways to Get Involved at Your Childs School

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Six Ways to Get Involved at Your Childs School
Dr. Joyce Epstein Johns Hopkins University
Presented by Deborah Johnson FUSD PTA President
September 29, 2007 FUSD Family Leadership
Conference
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Six Ways to Get Involved at Your Childs School

• Communicating
• Learning at Home
• Parenting
• Volunteering
• Leadership and Decision Making
• Collaborating with the Community

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Communicating

• Communicate with your childs school
• Respond to the communication your childs school
  gives you

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Communicating

• Communicate with your childs school
• Change of address/phone
• Health conditions
• Personality traits or behavior issues
• Strengths and weaknesses
• Family situation
• Cultural and religious practices
• Classroom visits
• Surveys

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Communicating

• 2. Respond to the communication that the school
  sends
• Monitor your childs progress in school
• Respond to problems immediately
• PowerSchool
• Parent Student Notification and Information
  Handbook

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Learning at Home
You play 4 key roles in your childs learning

• Teacher
• Supporter
• Advocate
• Decision maker

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Parenting
Family characteristics of successful students

• Self confident about parenting
• Knowledgeable about child/adolescent development
• Daily family routine
• Time and quiet place to study
• Daily school attendance
• Responsibility for household chores
• Firm times to get up and go to bed
• Eat dinner together
• Monitor out-of-school activities

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Volunteering
Volunteer to support school goals and childrens
learning in any way, any time.

• Volunteer to share your time and talent at your
  childs school

• Supports your child, other students, and the
  school

• Be a part of school audiences to support

• Assemblies, performances, sporting events,
  recognition and award ceremonies, and
  celebrations.

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Decision Making and Leadership

• Become a family leader by participating in school
  decisions

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Collaborating with the Community
It takes a village to raise a child. African
Proverb

• The community contributes to schools, students,
  and families
• ? Business partnerships, agencies, universities,
  cultural groups, health services, recreation,
  libraries, museums, tutoring, and mentoring
  programs
• Schools, students, and families contribute to the
  community
• ? Service learning, sharing talents to solve
  local problems

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Stay involved in your childs school

• ? You are very important
• ? Your involvement makes a difference
• ? Your support ensures your childs

? Achievement in school, ? Graduation, ?
Preparation for a career or college,
and ? Success in life.