True Believer in Parent Teacher Home Visits
4th Grade Teacher LaNesha Battle
This year at Anderson Elementary School we began the Parent
Teacher Home Visits Project with the entire faculty. We were able to recognize that
a disconnection between home and school was not good for our children, for the
parents or for us as teachers.
Before the home visits began,
only the same parents would sparingly come into the schools. Teachers felt that
parents were too busy to participate in the education of their students and
that we had to do it all.
That was a huge
misconception! Most of the parents thought teachers only cared about the
academics of students – another huge misconception! Teachers and parents were both
surprised at the outcome of the home visits.
I visited with one family
where I had taught the older sister and her sister is currently in my
classroom. The mother was hesitant, but both daughters were excited about my
visit. When I arrived, the mom had her 3 daughters, 2 toddlers, and the baby
she watches, all there. So of course I now understood her hesitancy!
They were very excited to see
us. The mom was standoff-ish in the beginning, but as the daughters excitement
began to show more and more she warmed up. We laughed and talked for the entire
visit.
When the student told the
class about the visit, the other students wanted to know when I was going to
visit their homes! This student and I created a new bond that will never be
broken, all because I showed I cared, by visiting with her family.
So to my fellow teachers, I
say: "Yes, Parent Home Visits will take extra time out of your day. It will require
you to make some additional phone calls. But, ask yourself: If you have
children, how many of them build relationships with people you know nothing
about? Is it worth an hour out of your day to make a connection with a student
who will remember that hour for the rest of their life?"
Yes! It is worth it to me and
to those children whose lives I touch.
