Every provider of the Rochester Prekindergarten Program is required to have a written family partnership plan.  The providers are encouraged to include in their plan three features of the school/family relationship:  Shared Vision, Family appreciation, and Communication.  The following document is an example of a completed plan submitted by the Rochester Pre School Parent Program.

The following is one example of a written family partnership plan.

Family
Partnership
Guidelines

by Merrilyn Parks
11/5/04

Adapted by
Rochester Preschool-Parent Program
3/28/05

Family Partnership Definition

Let’s start with a workable definition of the two words:

Family: a person or persons who relate to the school/agency on behalf of the child.  This may or may not be the biological, foster, or adoptive parents or family members.

Partnership: school/home working together, participating in the child’s life experiences.

There is much to be said about parenthood and involvement in the education of one’s child, but for our immediate purposes, these simple definitions are helpful in maintaining our focus.

With thirty two thousand children in informal care in Monroe County, parenting is taking place by family daycare providers, licensed daycare providers in homes and agencies, babysitters, a variety of relatives and Children’s Teachers. 
We want to include those who stand in place of the parent, on behalf of the child.  The profiles of all of the Rochester Pre-Kindergarten sites use the term “family partnership”, will be used exclusively in this document.

Family Partnership Definition

Family: Person or persons who relate to the school/agency on behalf of the child

Partnership:  School/home working together, Participating in the child’s life experiences:

And More: 

To strengthen the parent/ family as the primary teacher and guide of the young child

Begin With Yourself
Family Partnerships must first be the relationship between the parent/family and child.  This is the twenty-four-seven loving, nourishing, learning life experiences that families provide.  We have to respect and appreciate that relationship to the point that we make an effort to extend that relationship into our classrooms.

The second aspect of family partnerships is based on the first and includes a relationship between school and home.  This is a relationship between those people who participate in the child’s experiences in their home as well as in the child’s school life.  There are other personnel that come in contact with the child and family, but the significant contact, the significant connections (because they are daily) in a child’s life are his home family and his classroom family – teacher, Parent Group Leader, paraprofessional and classmates.  Because the teacher/parent connection is very helpful to the success of the child’s education, the plan for this connection should be related to the context of the education we provide for the child.

This plan must be consistent with the requirements placed on you by your governing body and funders, i.e. are you required to have a parent advisory board, parent discussion groups, parent volunteers, etc?  What are parents requiring or requesting in relation to family partnerships? These requirements will help to shape the kind of tools you select in designing your family partnerships.

Once we are clear about the demands placed on us lets look at what we need from families to fulfill the demands.
What does the governing board of your school/agency require regarding family partnerships (parent involvement)?

We encourage, not require, parents or their representatives, to attend weekly group meetings, conducted by professional staff members.

 Parents, or their representatives, have the opportunity to spend time in the Preschool classroom with their child.

The Paraprofessionals in our program are all parents of current or former students in the program.  The parent begins as a volunteer in the classroom and then applies to the Project Supervisor to be interviewed for a staff position.

Parent Council meetings are held on a regular schedule announced in September.

What do the funding sources of your school/agency require regarding family partnerships?

The funding sources require family/school contact and communication.  There are also measurements instruments that are required to track the amount and results of family involvement.   Scheduled Parent Council Meetings are required.

Three Keys to Successful Family Partnerships

The purpose of the family partnership is to connect the family to their child’s successful learning and taking place in the classroom.  There are three keys that can assist you:

• Vision
  
  
• Appreciation
  
  
• Communication

Vision

We, the teachers, Parent Group Leaders, and paraprofessional need the trust and the support of the child’s family so that what we teach in the classroom can travel home with the child and be enjoyed and reinforced by the family.

 This happens best if families know who you are and what you are teaching.  We can, in very easy language, let families know our weekly and monthly plans and how they relate to the expectations we have for their child.  Parents need to know what we plan to teach.  We need to incorporate in our plans the expectations parents have for their child and be willing to help parents understand how their expectations will be taught. 

Once teacher and parent agree on what they want the child to learn, we will have a vision.  Both parent and teacher will teach (each in their own way) with the same expectations for the child.  The parent and teacher share the same vision for the child.

What is the mission of your agency/school?

The mission of the Rochester Preschool-Parent Program is to support the parent as the primary teacher and to increase the potential for school success and optimal development of the child by offering developmentally appropriate experiences in a group setting.

What skills, behaviors and knowledge do you expect of the children enrolled in your program by the end of the school year?

To take the first steps on their journey to become life long learners with parents and teaching team by their side.  The New York State Prekindergarten Standards are the guide that structures the curriculum for the home/classroom learning.

Our expectation is for each child to develop social, literacy and mathematical skills that will prepare them for success in Kindergarten and beyond.

What tools are available for families to share in identifying the expectations of their child and for determining the vision for their child?

Families are welcomed into the Prekindergarten classroom at all times, to observe or volunteer.  The families are encouraged to attend a weekly discussion group meeting lead by a staff member with professional training in group dynamics and facilitation. 

The Paraprofessionals that work in Rochester Preschool-Parent Program have all been parents of children in the Program.  A parent starts as a volunteer in the classroom and is then recommended by the classroom team to be interviewed by the Project Supervisor for a position as Parent Paraprofessional and working in their child’s classroom.

An “Introductory Visit” begins each family’s Pre-kindergarten experience.  The Children’s Teacher and the Parent Group Leader visit the family and the child in their home.  This is an opportunity to begin relationship building in an environment that is familiar to the family.

Two formal Parent/Teacher/Parent Group Leader conferences are scheduled each year.  These conferences can be held in the family’s home or at the school.  The first conference is facilitated by the Parent Group Leader with the goal being an opportunity for the parent to discuss their knowledge of and concerns for their child.  The second conference is facilitated by the Children’s Teacher to discuss the child’s strengths at school.

Appreciation

We sometimes fail to see that families need our trust and our support.  We are the first persons in the family’s and child’s “official” education experience. Up until now the family has been the only teacher and they have worked hard, twenty-four-seven for three years or more.

What we know about the child tells us some things about the family.  Look at the information, skills, and behaviors the child brings to you and use it to connect with the family.  If you see what the family has accomplished in their child’s learning and you recognize this learning as a place where you can begin to teach the child, then you can congratulate the family and begin to build a bridge that will connect school to home.

Much of the child’s success in your classroom is based on what and how you teach.  Some of that success is based on the foundation the family laid and continues to lay for their child.  We need to systematically express our appreciation for the weekly support and assistance families give their children.

What 3 tools or methods do you have in place for regularly expressing appreciation for the families of the children you serve?

How are families honored in your classroom, agency/school, in the community?

The families are honored by welcoming them into every aspect of the Preschool Program.  They are involved in their children’s learning at school.  They are also encouraged to take part in the development of the discussions in the Parent discussion group.

Families are honored through membership in Parent Council, respect for families, end of year certificates and celebrations.

What information do you share with families to let them know the success of their child?

Two Parent Conferences are scheduled each year.  The first is facilitated by the Parent Group Leader and lead by the parent.  Information about the child is shared through the information gathered in the portfolio, RECAP information, and informal observations. 
Classroom newsletters keep the parents informed about upcoming activities and current classroom instruction.

Attractive displays of current children’s work labeled with New York State Standards.  The work is also labeled with an overview of how the work was introduced and supported.  The art work displayed is process art, not project based.

The Paraprofessionals go into Parent Group to share the classroom processes and goals for learning.  The Paraprofessionals spend time during their Para Supervisory meetings discussing and practicing what to share with the parents.

The Children’s Teachers work with the class to develop digital storybooks that show pictorially what happens during the Preschool Day.  These books are used for independent reading and are sent home for shared family reading.

Each classroom has a parent bulletin board.  Relevant articles, school calendars, important notices and home school communication are displayed here.

Communication

Based on the shared vision and the appreciation for the family and child, you are to tell everything to everybody, respecting confidentiality of course.  What is meant by this is whatever the child accomplishes during the day, let the families know and let the community know.  Communicate accomplishments and progress only.  There are no failures in Prekindergarten.

There is no greater, more powerful magnet for family partnerships than student success. Positive, accurate information is much appreciated by families and will strengthen the relationship between school and home.

What tools/strategies do you have to regularly communicate information to families?

The tools/ strategies we use include:

What tools/strategies do you have to regularly receive information from families?

The tools/strategies we use include:

What tools/strategies do you use to inform the community of the success and activities of the children?

The tools/strategies we use include:

Activities for Family Partnerships

Activities for families to participate in their child’s classroom or in the agency/school are always part of the agenda when we talk family partnerships.  You will find that all of the activities you do now and will do fall under one of the three keys: vision, appreciation, communication. 

I encourage you to think of activities occurring in your classroom.  Let family and child learn together.  As you do your plans for the week identify how parents can help support each lesson you plan to teach.  Build family activities around this.  It is far less intimidating for families to learn what their child is learning.  Families may also come with activities you find useful.

Keep in mind that parents/families have a right not to participate.  Please do not use the number of participants to measure how much parents care about their children not to measure how successful your relationship is with the families.

There is a universal law that says no Prekindergarten program can exist without the involvement, participation of the family.  Your existing Prekindergarten program is evidence of the family partnerships you already have.

The purpose is to maintain or enhance the family partnership as it relates to the vision for the child.
List the best activities you have for involving families:

10. Open House/ Science Fairs

Family Partnership
Photo Album
Families Working Together on Literacy

Parent and child reading together in the classroom.

Families Working Together on Literacy

Parent and sibling reading in classroom.

Grandfather reads at PreKindergarten.

Families Come to School for a Special Evening

Student and his dad making sidewalk paint at Special Person’s Night, June 2004

Making ice cream sundaes at Special Person’s Night

June 2004

Family Field Trip Fun

Fun at the Apple Farm

End of the Year Family Fun

Making edible necklaces with parent help

A fun day for all, June 23, 2004