Parent's On Your Side

Lee Canter & Marlene Canter

Education / Parent Involvement

Lee Canter’s

Parents On Your Side

®

A Teacher’s Guide to Creating Positive Relationships With Parents, Second Edition

A Teacher’s Guide to Creating Positive Relationships

2

nd Edition

With Parents

Lee Canter’s

• • • •

Use a variety of communication skills.

Boost parent attendance at school events.

Conduct all types of parent conferences effectively.

Plan the most motivating Back-to-School Night presentation of your career.

• Make phone calls that will stop most problems before they become serious.

• Work collaboratively with all parents, even the most reluctant ones.

• Develop home-school contracts that bring results.

Lee Canter and Marlene Canter and their staff have trained over 1.5 million teachers. Lee is a world-renowned expert on classroom management and the author of many books, including Assertive Discipline, Succeeding With Difficult Students, and Classroom Management for Academic Success. One of the most dynamic speakers and trainers in education today, he has keynoted countless conferences and has been a frequent guest on noted television programs including Oprah, The Today Show, and Good Morning America.

solution-tree.com

®

• Improved academic performance • Reduced behavior problems • Homework assignments completed on time, with more effort • A more positive, smoothly running classroom • Reduced teacher stress

Move parents past the roadblocks that keep them from giving their support. By following Lee Canter’s practical guidelines and dialogues, communication and collaboration with parents can become an easy-toimplement part of any teacher’s repertoire.

You will learn how to do the following:

Parents On Your Side Second Edition

Do you have students with behavior problems, students who do not successfully complete homework, or students who are not reaching their fullest potential? This classic book presents strategies for gaining the support of all parents in all situations to improve student behavior and achievement. While most reform programs require schoolwide change, the strategies in Parents On Your Side can bring measurable success to individual teachers by using an untapped resource: parents.

You will learn how to turn parents into partners to produce:

Parents OnYour Side ®

Lee Canter and Marlene Canter

Copyright Š 2001, 1991 Solution Tree Press 555 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404 (812) 336-7700 (800) 733-6786 (toll free) FAX: (812) 336-7790 email: info@solution-tree.com www.solution-tree.com All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction of this book in whole or in part in any form.

Second Edition May 2001 ISBN 978-1-932127-57-7

Contents Introduction ....................................................................................1 SECTION ONE Why Teachers Need Parents and Parents Need Teachers .................3 Chapter 1 Why You Need Parents on Your Side ................................... 5 Chapter 2 Having an Effective Attitude ................................................13 Chapter 3 Recognizing Roadblocks .....................................................19 SECTION TWO How to Work With Parents to Establish Positive Relationships ........ 31 Chapter 4 Meeting First-Day Objectives ............................................. 33 Chapter 5 Making the Most of Back-to-School Night .......................... 55 Chapter 6 Establishing Positive Communication With Parents . ............ 69 Chapter 7 Involving Parents in the Homework Process ....................... 79 Chapter 8 Conducting Regularly Scheduled Parent Conferences . .......103 Chapter 9 Demonstrating Sensitivity and Awareness .......................... 115 SECTION THREE How to Work With Parents to Solve Problems ............................. 121 Chapter 10 Documenting Problems . .................................................123 Chapter 11 Contacting Parents at the First Sign of a Problem . ............131 Chapter 12 Conducting a Problem-Solving Conference ......................145 Chapter 13 Using a Home-School Contract .......................................157 Chapter 14 Providing Support for Parents’ Disciplinary Efforts ............171 Chapter 15 Dealing With Difficult Situations . ....................................179 Conclusion: Ending the Year on a Positive Note ........................... 199 Recommended Reading and Bibliography .................................... 205 Index .......................................................................................... 209

Solution Tree

iii

Introduction

S

ince 1991, when the first edition of Parents on Your Side was introduced, there has been a growing effort in schools to involve parents in their children’s education. Increasingly, teachers and administrators recognize that parent support can be a key factor in a student’s success in school. Parents are in a unique position to offer insight, assistance, backup, and encouragement concerning their children.

Yet getting parent support is not always easy. Educators continue to explore the best way to involve parents in their efforts. Noted researcher Joyce Epstein1 suggests that there must be a multifaceted approach. She has identified six important types of involvement between families, schools, and the community. Her work calls for practices that involve: •• Assisting families with parenting skills •• Recruiting and training parent volunteers in the schools •• Involving families in their children’s homework and other academic activities •• Including families on committees and in other school organizations •• Working with community agencies and businesses to provide resources to parents and strengthen school programs •• Communicating with families about school programs and student success It is this last type of parent involvement—communication—that is the focus of this book.

Through effective communication with parents, teachers can have the greatest impact on their day-to-day success with students. With parents on their side, teachers can more effectively manage most academic and behavioral issues that arise. When the most important adults in a child’s life are working together, students benefit enormously.

Today more that ever, teachers are finding themselves in situations that require regular communication with parents. The increasing number of charter schools and community-based schools bring more parents into contact with teachers. The use of email offers a convenient tool for teachers to communicate with parents about homework and their children’s progress. Voicemail systems allow parents to call the school at night and hear assignments delivered in the teacher’s own voice. Teachers and schools are building websites that describe school events, policies, and class assignments and even allow parents to view student grades on a regular basis. Schools are creating events that bring teachers and parents into more frequent contact. These increased Solution Tree

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PA R E N T S O N YO U R S I D E

opportunities for parent-teacher interaction, as well as the traditional parent conferences, necessitate that teachers use skill and sensitivity in the way they speak with parents.

The focus of this book is on those communication skills—how to speak with parents, how to listen to them, and how to reach out for their support.

Various changes have been made in this second edition of Parents on Your Side. There is greater emphasis on collaboration. We now recognize the need for parents and teachers to combine their knowledge of students’ strengths and limitations, then work together to devise an approach that will lead to student success. This revised edition also includes updated references, plus a reorganization of the original material to clarify the strategies you need.

It is our hope that the skills in this book, in combination with your school and community efforts, will lead to greater parent involvement and success for you and your students.

References 1

2

Epstein, J. L. (1997, September/October). Six types of school-family-community involvement. Harvard Education Letter. [Online]. Available: http://www. edletter.org/past/issues/1997-so/sixtypes.shtml.

Lee Canter & Marlene Canter

Education / Parent Involvement

Lee Canter’s

Parents On Your Side

®

A Teacher’s Guide to Creating Positive Relationships With Parents, Second Edition

A Teacher’s Guide to Creating Positive Relationships

2

nd Edition

With Parents

Lee Canter’s

• • • •

Use a variety of communication skills.

Boost parent attendance at school events.

Conduct all types of parent conferences effectively.

Plan the most motivating Back-to-School Night presentation of your career.

• Make phone calls that will stop most problems before they become serious.

• Work collaboratively with all parents, even the most reluctant ones.

• Develop home-school contracts that bring results.

Lee Canter and Marlene Canter and their staff have trained over 1.5 million teachers. Lee is a world-renowned expert on classroom management and the author of many books, including Assertive Discipline, Succeeding With Difficult Students, and Classroom Management for Academic Success. One of the most dynamic speakers and trainers in education today, he has keynoted countless conferences and has been a frequent guest on noted television programs including Oprah, The Today Show, and Good Morning America.

solution-tree.com

®

• Improved academic performance • Reduced behavior problems • Homework assignments completed on time, with more effort • A more positive, smoothly running classroom • Reduced teacher stress

Move parents past the roadblocks that keep them from giving their support. By following Lee Canter’s practical guidelines and dialogues, communication and collaboration with parents can become an easy-toimplement part of any teacher’s repertoire.

You will learn how to do the following:

Parents On Your Side Second Edition

Do you have students with behavior problems, students who do not successfully complete homework, or students who are not reaching their fullest potential? This classic book presents strategies for gaining the support of all parents in all situations to improve student behavior and achievement. While most reform programs require schoolwide change, the strategies in Parents On Your Side can bring measurable success to individual teachers by using an untapped resource: parents.

You will learn how to turn parents into partners to produce:

Parents OnYour Side ®

Lee Canter and Marlene Canter