How do we support

parents to help their kids with homework and

other home literacy

activities?

When considering homework…

• Provide Guidelines

• Be Explicit

• Offer Workshops

Provide guidelines, not expectations

Why Guidelines?

“Guidelines or Options suggest a voluntary process, that parents have choices in what they will or will not do. Expectations, however, indicate teachers expect parents to do certain things, meaning that if parents don’t do those things—they or their children may be judged poorly” (Vatterott, 2009, p. 49-50).

Be Explicit

Many educators provide parents with rushed advice, simply because they have not clarified the assignments and how parents can support students (Musti-Rao & Cartledge, 2004).

Provide explicit explanations of recurring homework assignments, and invite parents to seek clarifications about assignments.

Let’s clarify an assignment for home….

• Find a partner. Decide who will be the questioner and who will be the sharer.

• Share an assignment you regularly give students at home.

• Your partner asks you the clarifying questions included on the WIKI.

• You write responses to those questions.• The responses can be used to write an explanation of

the assignment to parents.• Switch roles and repeat the process.

Offer a Workshop

What would the workshop include:

1. Describe the curriculum and lead a brief demonstration of typical lesson.

2. Describe strategies you use and why you use them. Explain how parents could support or reproduce these strategies at home.

3. Hand out tips for how parents could support homework activities.

4. If time, ask parents to tell/write their preferred method on contact.

(Musti-Rao & Cartledge, 2004; Paratore & Edwards, 2011)

Other Informational Sessions About topics parents may not understand:

ACT PBIS outcome-based learning, self-selected reading, grading practices, summer reading, etc.

Sessions could be offered at flexible times (in morning and evening -- depending on available and willing personnel).

(Paratore & Edwards, 2011)

Remember to support parents who you may not see face-to-face

• Send explicit explanations of assignments and strategies home.

• Post information on your website.• Post videos of your workshops or strategy

demonstrations on your website.

ReferencesMusti-Rao, S., & Cartledge, G. (2004). Making home an advantage in the prevention of reading failure: Strategies for collaborating with parents in urban schools. Preventing School Failure, 48(4). 15-21.

Paratore, J. R., & Edwards, P. A. (2011). Parent-teacher partnerships that make a difference in children's literacy achievement. In L. M. Morrow & L. B.

Gambrell (Eds.), Best practices in literacy instruction. (pp. 436- 454). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Vatterott, C. (2009). Rethinking homework: Best practices that support diverse needs. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Vatterott, C. (2012, October). "Coeducation": Negotiating a new parent-school relationship. Poster session presented at the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Fall Conference, Atlanta, GA.