The research is indisputable. The more involved parents are with their child’s education, the more successful that child will be in school. Therefore, finding ways as a teacher to reach out to students and their parents is crucial in improving academic performance. Quick and Easy Ways to Connect With Students and Their Parents, Grades K-8 provides strategies to enrich the classroom environment, motivate students, and improve communication with parents. Supplying numerous sample forms, documents, and letters that teachers can use or adapt for their own purposes, author Diane Mierzwik offers simple, classroom-tested methods for building relationships with students and their parents. Designed for both beginning and experienced teachers, this hands-on guidebook includes information on: • Facilitating constructive parent-teacher conferences • Preparing for Back-to-School nights • Reaching out to uninvolved parents • Talking to parents about troubled students • Motivating even the most difficult students • Using e-mail as a communication tool and other time-saving tips The activities, suggestions, and techniques in this book can help any teacher make a substantive impact on the lives of students.

"The timing for Reaching Out could not have been better. Just when educators are beginning to realize that teachers need training in how to work with parents, Kyle, McIntyre, Miller, and Moore bring us a book that is a welcome breath of fresh air." —Patricia A. Edwards, Professor of Language and Literacy Michigan State University "Reaching Out describes a great variety of ways to respectfully and productively engage families in helping their children learn and grow. Throughout the text the reader is reminded that parents are experts about their children and that trusting relationships are built on respectful, two-way communications. The authors also remind us that the goal of family involvement is not parent participation at school events and activities but improved student achievement." —Steve McCafferty, Principal Mildred Dean School, Newport, KY Involve families in the education process and enhance your students′ learning experience! Too often, today′s student feels alienated from school, and learning suffers as a result. Developing a relationship with the family can provide the missing link in the educational chain. Reaching Out is an invaluable resource for compassionate educators interested in building strong relationships with their students′ families. A dynamic team of teachers and teacher educators have combined their first-hand experience and in-depth research in this essential guidebook. By involving the entire family in the educational experience, teachers can bridge the gap separating home and school and help produce happier, healthier, and smarter kids. Highlights include: Building trust with families Communicating in positive ways with students′ families Implementing family workshops Involving families through innovative homework ideas Based on a five-year study, the information will be particularly helpful for teachers whose classrooms reflect a diverse student population. By incorporating these concepts and techniques, you not only enhance the learning experience you also help your students to be more compassionate and excited about school.

Strengthen programs of family and community engagement to promote equity and increase student success! When schools, families, and communities collaborate and share responsibility for students′ education, more students succeed in school. Based on 30 years of research and fieldwork, the fourth edition of the bestseller School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, presents tools and guidelines to help develop more effective and more equitable programs of family and community engagement. Written by a team of well-known experts, it provides a theory and framework of six types of involvement for action; up-to-date research on school, family, and community collaboration; and new materials for professional development and on-going technical assistance. Readers also will find: Examples of best practices on the six types of involvement from preschools, and elementary, middle, and high schools Checklists, templates, and evaluations to plan goal-linked partnership programs and assess progress CD-ROM with slides and notes for two presentations: A new awareness session to orient colleagues on the major components of a research-based partnership program, and a full One-Day Team Training Workshop to prepare school teams to develop their partnership programs. As a foundational text, this handbook demonstrates a proven approach to implement and sustain inclusive, goal-linked programs of partnership. It shows how a good partnership program is an essential component of good school organization and school improvement for student success. This book will help every district and all schools strengthen and continually improve their programs of family and community engagement.

This guidebook, packed with wisdom, practical advice, resources, and encouragement, explores how moms can equip their sons with what they most need to succeed in life. Monica Swanson knew she'd tapped a heartfelt concern when nearly two million readers shared her blog post "What a Teenage Boy Needs Most from His Mom." In this helpful book, she takes mothers deeper into the insights they need for the boy-raising journey, covering topics from dealing with the daily influences of friends and technology to helping a boy grow to be physically, spiritually, and emotionally healthy. She also addresses learning and finding passions, perspectives on relationships and dating, and work ethics and money management. Each chapter features relatable stories, handy checklists, and practical advice based on a combination of research, experience, and biblical truth to guide and equip a mom in helping her son achieve his God-given potential. Praise for Boy Mom “In Boy Mom Monica Swanson offers readers practical advice and resounding hope that parenting our sons well through all seasons is not only possible but also enjoyable. This book is like an essential trail guide that I’ll refer to again and again in the beautiful and challenging adventure of motherhood.”—Becky Keife, author of No Better Mom for the Job and mom of three spirited boys “Monica Swanson is the friend we all need in our lives: humble, straightforward, warm, full of wisdom, and short on nonsense—and she knows her stuff like no one else. In Boy Mom she holds the bar high yet is forthcoming about her own struggles and imperfections. Inside these pages you’ll find deeply rooted biblical and practical advice along with calls to action when you don’t know where to start. The Boy Mom Manifesto at the end will not only inspire you but also make your heart swell.”—Kate Merrick, author of Here, Now: Unearthing Peace and Presence in an Overconnected World “Monica Swanson is the ultimate Boy Mom mentor. While her perspective on parenting is grounded in biblical wisdom, each chapter holds excellent practical tools for how to work out that wisdom on a daily basis in our homes. Of course, we know there aren’t formulas that will ensure we get it all right, but we also know that gleaning wisdom from women who have gone before us (and are still in the trenches with us) is invaluable in the wonderful adventure of helping boys become all God created them to be.”—Jeannie Cunnion, author of Mom Set Free