Teachers Making House Calls

Teachers' House Calls
Getting everyone active in student's learning is essential to setting them up for success. In James Vaznis' Boston Globe article Teachers' house calls make pupils, parents feel at home explains the practice of teachers in Boston and Springfield that is gaining national attention. "The goal is to build stronger relationships between teachers and families in a quest to bolster parent volunteerism in school and involvement in their child's education at home, as well as break down any misconceptions that parents and teachers might have about one another." Engaging parents in this way results in successful students.

Teacher's house calls show the benefit of a strong parent-teacher relationship for students. Having engaged parents, enthused children and teachers creates a positive learning experience that:

1. extends learning from the classroom to the home

2. builds parents' trust in teachers

3. encourages parental involvement with the school

4. Enlightens and prepares teachers to work with students

The idea of family involvement to support one member of the family is a common practice adopted in areas of human service, particularly in therapy/counseling. Adopting this family oriented method of teachers meeting the student's nuclear family and interacting with the child outside of the classroom establishes a common experience that leads to understanding and positive results all around. This is the perfect way to get parents involved, students on track to a great learning experience and relationship building!

Check out Vasnis' article: