When Home and School Connect

What does it take to help the littlest learners feel your respect for their families? Join Molly, Dr. Eve, and guest Jennifer Scheid, Pre-K Teacher at Bright Adventures, as they explore what we can do to help students feel honored, special, and like they can bring a little bit of home with them to school?

Transcript

[00:00:00] From Leader in Me Studios, I'm Molly Garcia. This is The Empowering Teacher for Early Learning. 

Molly: When I close my eyes and think back to my early years in elementary school I can't help but to think about Mrs. Cook. To be honest, it wasn't anything around a particular lesson she taught in class. It was around a statement that she said to me about my family. I was sitting on the bench by the water fountain eating the burrito my abuelita made for lunch. I was always a little shy opening my lunchbox, because most kids had sandwiches, not burritos.

Molly: I think she noticed this daily ritual I had of slowly opening my lunchbox, hoping it might be something different, and without hesitation Mrs. Cook sat next to me and said, “Tell me about this amazing grandma of yours who makes you these momemade burritos. She must really love you.” It sounds so simple, but those words helped to shift my paradigm. I felt honored, special, [00:01:00] and like I could bring a little bit of home with me to school. This is what our episode is all about today.

Molly: And as we connect with Jennifer Scheid, a teacher at Bright Adventures Preschool in North Carolina, we're going to explore just how the Paradigm of Education can transform how we partner with our families to support the whole child. Eve, I could tell you story after story on how my teacher valued my family And how she partnered with my grandma to support all of me. I know it began with these micro-moments of connecting the whole person. This makes sense to my heart. So talk to us about how this makes sense to the research.

Eve: Molly, your story is a beautiful and perfect example of how recognizing and valuing family connections can significantly enhance a student's sense of belonging. Research tells us that when educators acknowledge and celebrate the unique backgrounds and family traditions of their students, it fosters a deep sense of acceptance and inclusion, and this sense of belonging is crucial [00:02:00] for cognitive and emotional engagement in the classroom.

Molly: Ok. This is so true from my experience. And when we talk about engaging families and students, it's not just about the academic learning. I can tell you as someone who needed to feel like she belonged that those small things matter to every aspect of who I felt I could be at school.

Eve: I am so glad you had those experiences. They speak to an aspect of family engagement that isn't discussed enough, What it feels like for students knowing that their family and home culture are valued in the school And bringing it to the brain, this bridge between students' home and school life activates positive neurotransmitters in the brain like oxytocin, which is associated with trust and bonding, it essentially tells the student you're safe, valued, and an important part of this entire learning community.

Molly: Okay. This is amazing just how a simple acknowledgment of [00:03:00] a family tradition can have such a profound impact.

Eve: Absolutely. Yeah. And, and it goes beyond just the individual. When one student's family culture is honored, it sets the tone of inclusivity and respect in the classroom. Just as the opposite actions can create a sense of hierarchy and social exclusion that is the breeding ground for bullying and other things.

Molly: Yeah. And we certainly want the inclusive classroom. So what can educators do to foster this connection?

Eve: Okay. It's going to be simple, but in its simplicity is the hope that everyone can do this. And it begins with showing genuine interest in students' backgrounds like Mrs. Cook did with your burrito. That alone will make a big difference like it did for you.

Eve: But I do want to add another layer. If educators incorporate family stories, of course, with permission, and traditions and values into their teaching [00:04:00] and show students that they can show their learning in ways that create a classroom culture around their culture, where every student feels that their identity and family background are not just accepted, but celebrated, that is a huge benefit to students' ability to feel like they belong and that they can learn.

Molly: Eve, thank you for sharing these insights. It's clear that honoring family connections is key to fostering a sense of belonging in education, and I cannot wait to jump in a conversation with Jennifer around practical ways to bring this research to life. 

Molly: Jennifer, welcome to The Empowering Teacher Podcast for Early Learning

Jennifer: Thank you. I'm excited to be here.

Molly: It's so great to have you with us today, and I'm so ready to jump in a conversation for this episode around the Paradigm of Education. Being that our early-learning classrooms are for some of our families, their first experience with this partnership, how do you intentionally foster this [00:05:00] relationship with families.

Jennifer: It is usually the first time that parents are involved in the school setting, and every year is different. We don't really have a blueprint. And so we kind of know what has worked in the past, and we tweak things. Because as students, every family is different, and we only have them for one year. But some of our basic things we do every single year is we send letters to our families introducing ourselves as teachers. So they can kind of get a sense of who we are and what our beliefs is in education. And then we also do our home visits. And that's really key because we get to go to children's houses, and we get to see them in their environment, their family in their environment, to where we can have conversation. 

Jennifer: So you can see pictures.You could talk to them about their family members. So they know we have that genuine care for the whole family. Parents come in for Open House, and they get to meet all the other families and students. And we go over our policies and protocol and everything. But I think the key for us is parents at our school have to physically come into our school every day to sign their child [00:06:00] in and out in the classrooms.

Jennifer: So we build that rapport with those families, asking them how they're doing, having smile on our face, welcoming them and their child to the classroom. 

Molly: So how do you bring strategies or action steps, maybe even routines within the classroom to bring that partnership on a consistent basis? 

Jennifer: We ask parents for input a lot. We ask parents to be a part of their children's life quite frequently. We do family projects where we want them to do something with their family so their child can bring it in and show them.

Jennifer: Also, our director does a really great thing where she has a parent advisory board. And we invite parents to come in and talk to her about what they see in the classrooms, what they would like to see in the classrooms. 

Jennifer: Our doors are always open for parents to come in. One of our teachers does a play day where they invite parents to come in during center time because play is such an integral part of early childhood education. And some parents want to learn how to play with their child so they get the [00:07:00] most out of play.

Molly: That's so remarkable. Well, I'm thinking about how that really helps the family member feel like a valued member of the classroom.

Jennifer: A lot of the communication that we establish and build with those parents shows them that we do value their opinion, we do Wildly Important Goals even at the 4-year-old level. And so we sent home a thing for the parents to sit down and go through what they wanna set as their goals for the school year. And it could be as easy as learning how to walk in the classroom or learning how to swing because they don't necessarily have time to do those. And we work with the parents, and we talk about what their child's gonna work on in the class.

Jennifer: And then when they achieve that goal, we celebrate, and then we send home another activity for them to help their child pick another goal. Then we also do jobs. This year is the first year we did job applications where their parents helped them fill out a job application saying why they thought they were good in doing this job. And they sat down with me, and we talked about the job. And they said, Miss Jennifer, this is [00:08:00] why I want this job.

Molly: Your students are interviewing for a classroom job, what does that look and sound like for a 4-year-old?

Jennifer: We differentiate it for all students because all learners are different. And so we use terminology based on the student that you're interviewing. 

Jennifer: They bring their application that they fill out with their family, There's three jobs they can choose, which ones they would want most. And then we sit down and I ask them about which 1 would be their favorite and why do they think they would do a good job in the classroom helping do that activity. Then they answer those questions and I ask, what do you do as a leader in our classroom? How are you a good leader in the classroom?

Jennifer: How do you help out your friends? How do you help out Miss Jennifer in the classroom? And they will come up with so many random things. One of our jobs is, um, helping Mr. Ed, our custodian, empty the trash. And so that's a huge thing in our classroom. Oh, well, Mr. Ed, he can't lift those trash cans very well, so I have to go and help Mr. Ed lift those trash cans.

Jennifer: So those are some of the answers [00:09:00] you get from those little learners. They think outside the box. They're like, how can I help do those things? And they really come up with some strong answers. And it's really just an opportunity for them to have a voice in what they do to help out in the classroom.

Molly: That's so empowering in the classroom, and it's also a great conversation to have at home. Because the conversation really starts with the families. Like, hey, what would I be great at? What am I an expert in that I could bring into the classroom? And so bringing that skill set and the conversation from families really ignites the great conversation and their role in that student empowerment piece in the classroom. So what is the one place that you feel like, okay, if you're listening and you're a leader of an early learning classroom, this is the one thing I would say, start here, and this will help you to start building that relationship with our families.

Jennifer: I would say the one place to start building relationships with family is to welcome them primarily every day with a smile on your face. Also, ask them, what do you [00:10:00] wanna see? But the biggest thing where I see a lot of parents feel as though they're being valued is when we do these family activities, and those kids and parents get to create an All About Me page about their whole family.

Jennifer: And we get, take pictures of their kids showing something about their family culture. I really think something as simple as doing just an activity that they can do together as a family is a great way just to start. And then as you start that, you'll see more involvement. We've seen much more involvement when we do family activities we can send home because parents have a hard work schedule. It's hard for every parent come in.

Jennifer: So when we send something home, those parents can sit down and then enjoy time with their child doing something that's valued for their family, 

Molly: Let's talk a little bit more about results.. What results are you seeing, with that intentional focus on building that relationship?

Jennifer: A lot more involvement. Parents asking what they could do to help their child, [00:11:00] not only as far as just the fun exciting activities which is what we love to see, but a genuine wanting to learn more about what they can do to help their child succeed in the world. 

Molly: Oh, Jennifer, thank you for shining the light on the impact the Paradigm of Education has in our classrooms. And of course, a big thank you to our listeners. Keep shining. You've got this.