Home-School Connections (HSC)

Three Ways Teachers Can Learn
What Families Know and Do

Click on the circles for more details.

Home-To-
School

Teachers can observe, talk with and listen to their students

Question of the Day; During Children’s Play

Teachers can indirectly learn what families know and do

Neighborhood Walks;
Culturally-Rooted Stories;
Home School Sheets

Teachers can directly learn what families know and do

Joint Activities (e.g., structures using recyclables); Parent-Teacher Discussions (e.g., community map); Home Observations

Learn Directly What Families Know and Do

Joint Activities

Joint Activities were a key strategy used to facilitate non-hierarchical and reciprocal exchanges between teachers and parents. Joint Activities were employed at various points throughout the RISE project to create common ground, facilitate a sense of shared responsibility, and inspire STE integration and construction of curriculum that built on knowledge of children’s cultures and communities.

Parent-Teacher Discussion Groups

In Parent-Teacher Discussion groups, the teachers “give over the floor” to parents, which over time led to non-hierarchical discussions about culture and context and children’s experiences in preschool classrooms.

Home Observations

Parent Leaders opened their homes so researchers could observe children at home and learn about the natural STE opportunities and resources that were part of children’s daily lives.

Photo on left:  Parents, family advocates and educational supervisors in Malden come together to discuss ways to build on the Home to School approach within their school.
Audio below:  Malden educational supervisor sharing the value and impact that RISE has had on her program.

To support learning with and from each other, the RISE approach:

ENGAGES PARENT LEADERS and COMMUNITY EXPERTS who serve as guides for understanding family and community life, as well as how best to connect with other parents;

SUPPORTS JOINT ACTIVITIES for the purpose of bringing teachers and parents together as equal partners. These activities focus on connecting STE concepts, classroom curriculum, and children’s everyday lives;

BRIDGES and CONNECTS these two primary adult helpers in Parent-Teacher Discussions (PTD) which have a two-fold purpose: (1) for teachers to learn about and feel connected to their students’ home lives and families’ funds of knowledge, and (2) for families to feel respected for their expertise and efforts, connected to their children’s learning, and valued for their linguistic and cultural experiences.