Cheri
Osborn, Special Education Teacher
Giving Hope Through Parent Teacher Home Visits
When a student is struggling it can be hard to
figure out why or the best ways to help her or him to succeed. But I am finding
that through the Parent Teacher Home Visits, it opens up lots of new insights
for both me and the families.
Let me tell you about Annie (name changed to
protect privacy). She was not completing her homework and I naturally thought
she wasn’t interested. Then I did the Parent Teacher Home Visit and was warmly
greeted by the family with cookies and juice. We all sat down on the couch in
the living room. The family was from Mexico and English is their second
language.
We
talked about the daughter having trouble completing her homework and turning it
in. We discovered that she had questions about her homework but was not asking
for help. One of the things that we did to help fix the problem was that I
shared some books with the family that are written in both English and Spanish.
Now the mother could read the same book as the daughter and discuss it together
in Spanish.
This is
helping the family to have a conversation about the books and the characters. It
is making learning fun for the child and the family. The family is
participating in the child’s learning and it now seems natural to them to read
together.
The family
engagement of the families I have visited has really improved tremendously since
doing Parent Teacher Home Visits. There is a connection that I am making in the
Parent Teacher Home Visit that helps the parents and me connect on a new level
with trust and ease. When the family sees how much I care about
their child, and I see how much they care too, our bond builds.
We are
all in this together for one common goal. We are giving hope to the child to
succeed at whatever her or his dreams are.
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