“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.”

Washoe Innovations Students Enthuse 

About Parent Teacher Home Visits

Check out this video to Check out this Video with 3 stories about Parent Teacher Home Visits

Sharing Hopes and Dreams for My Daughter

Parent, Anna Williams

"I had heard about the Parent Teacher Home Visit Program so I was excited when my 7 year old daughter, Jerica's, teacher, Ms. Rose, at Sun Valley Elementary School, contacted me to schedule a visit.   I thought it was cool. 

Jerica was very excited and showed her around our home. She was especially excited to show her our fish.

As a result of the visit, I feel more connected about what is going on with Jerica in the classroom. It has opened up Ms. Rose and my communication. I know that the teacher has a lot of students that she is responsible for, so this helped us know each other. 

She asked me about my goals and dreams for my daughter. It was good to be able to share my hopes for Jerica.

Since the home visit, my daughter is more motivated to read at home and has been putting more effort into her homework. I have a hard time helping her without giving her the answers, but now I don't need to as she is working harder. 

I am grateful for the Parent Teacher Home Visit Program."

Annie Dean, Professional Teacher, Grows From Home Visits

  Over the past year I visited over 50 families with the Parent Teacher Home Visit Project.  Colleagues and I visited nearly entire classes! Home visits generated lots of excitement; students were proud and confident as they announced, “You're coming to MY house today!” 

   Classroom communities flourished and even shy students opened up after visits. I enjoyed a deeper relationship with students; I could ask more meaningful questions because I had the family context as a resource. 

   Each family has a unique story to tell. Still, common themes emerged as we conducted home visits and began to see parents as true partners in education.

  All valued education. Many parents came to this country to give their children the educational opportunities they did not have in Mexico. All were grateful for teachers. 

   One father was deeply honored when we arrived; a teacher had visited him in Mexico when he was a child. It was a fond memory and he was glad his daughter would remember the day her teacher came to visit. When asked about his hopes and dreams for his children, another father answered, “I want my children to have good jobs. Jobs they enjoy. And I hope they give back to the country that has given them so much.” 

   Home visits have enriched my life, personally and professionally, and I'm grateful for the experience. 

  I hope the Parent Teacher Home Visit Project continues to grow! I have now moved to Carson City and hope I can do home visits there too.

Once You Do a Few, You Get Hooked
Micheal Recchia, Sun Valley Elementary School Site Coordinator

   "Last year we had several teachers whose goal was to do Parent Teacher Home Visits for every student in their class. They nearly got there and probably will this time. They saw first hand the value to each child and cumulatively in their classroom.

   We have conversations about Parent Teacher Home Visits in the lunch room all the time. I learn about the teachers' experiences with the visits and then send out encouraging messages to them regularly. Our principal, Ms. Prim Walters, also sends shout outs to the teachers to recognize their progress with the visits.  She and Assistant principal,Brian Prewett,are in full support of the visits. Ms. Walters recognizes staff in daily emails, at staff meetings and in morning announcements. 

   The relationships you build through the home visits can't be beat. You get to be a part of the neighborhood. You get to see the whole family. You learn more about their lives than you ever could in school. 

   One mother fed us a delicious meal. I had no idea what a stellar family they were. The dad and one teen were going to work out together at the gym after the visit. The other teen was going off to his part time job. The house was immaculate. It changed my point of view.

   You even get to catch up with the siblings who were at the school previously but are now in middle school or high school and see how they are doing. It creates bonds and they feel special that you remember them. 

   I have lots of ideas about how we can make the Parent Teacher Home Visit Program even better this year!" 

   

"She Sat On Our Couch"

We are the parents of two daughters, including Lupita, who is in Kindergarten at Kate Smith Elementary School.  

My wife and I came to the U.S. from Mexico to have a better life. It was scary in Mexico with a lot of crime and kidnapping. Our daughters were born here and we want them to have opportunities to learn and do well.

 When Lupita started in pre-school she didn’t speak English and was shy and quiet in school. We were visited by Perlita’s teacher, Ms. Kelly, twice. We told her that school was very important to us. But we didn’t know how to help our daughter. I was scared at first to ask her questions.

But Ms. Kelly got to know us and we found out what a caring, kind teacher she is.  She offered good ideas about how we could help our daughter and she asked for our ideas too. We were very happy to meet her in our home. She sat right on our couch.  She took the time to answer my questions and to listen.

After the first visit, Lupita became very motivated to learn. She says, “come on I need to study.” She grew to love math. And her communication improved. She grew happy and made more friends.

Then this school year, Ms. Mueller, Perlita’s Kindergarten teacher, visited us twice. She is a great teacher. She told us that Perlita is learning very quickly. I am so happy to hear that.

Lupita tries hard.  She wants to learn about everything and tells us that she wants to be either a doctor or a teacher, like Ms. Kelly and Ms. Mueller.

I want to help her to succeed. And with the support of the great teachers at Kate Smith Elementary, I think I can.  Maybe if Parent Teacher Home Visits were in all the schools, there would be no more shootings or bullying. The teachers and parents would know each other and what is going at home and at school.

 ~ Elia Vilelzo and Rene Espinoza-Morales.