“Come Back During Our Garden Harvest”

Changing Lives: Mary Lamont Alice Smith Elementary Teacher

  

   When asked about Parent Teacher Home Visits, 4^th grade teacher Mary Lamont responded, “The first family I visited was so welcoming that I feel like I gained a Friend. It was a great introduction to Parent Teacher Home Visits and helped my anxiety about these dissipate.”

   Mary Lamont began doing Parent Teacher Home Visits for the first time in the fall of 2014. She was scared at first to meet parents in their own environment.  But after doing a few, she says it changed her.

    Mary tells a story of a young girl who is a second language learner student. When she had a Parent Teacher Home Visit, she was greeted by the student’s parents and shown around their house. She was amazed at how welcoming the family was to her.

The father proudly showed her their garden and the daughter showed off her room. The whole family was excited about the experience.

   The father told Mary that when the garden produces she is welcome to share the crop with them.  “Getting to know the family closed the gap. I feel like a part of their extended family.Since the Parent Teacher Home Visit, these parents have become more involved with their child's education." 

   Mary reports, “From the Parent Teacher Home Visits, I see direct results in creating a more comfortable and productive learning and teaching environment in my classroom.”

   The parents also feel that they gained a friend in Mary. They warmly greet her in the school hallways now. They even invited her back to visit the garden for harvest season!

Strong Advocate for Parent Teacher Home VisitsArch Ruth, Principal at Alice Smith Elementary School

   “Parent Teacher Home Visits have breathed new life into my school. I am intrigued about how this is changing me, changing our teachers and building relationships with the families of our children,” reports Principal Arch Ruth.

   “Parent Teacher Home Visits allow us to reach out and build human connections with our students and families and build trust with each other. When you’re able to build this kind of special relationship, amazing results happen. I am a believer that it takes a community to raise a child.”

   He shared a story of a young boy who was having behavior issues and was struggling academically. The teacher and he did a Parent Teacher Home Visit to the student’s home. They  got to know the dad and the student better. They asked about their hopes and dreams.  "From that meeting we were able to understand where both the the father and the student were coming from and it was that Human Understanding that helped our school work more effectively with the student and support not only his learning, but the student as a growing, young man." 

   “ I have become a big fan of Parent Teacher Home Visits.”