Starting to grow as a school family

By Alan Bailey

This is the first of a series of articles exploring how parents can help in their children’s family group. The type of help needed changes as the students move through the school – this article looks at how the Chugach Optional philosophy of parental involvement works in kindergarten.

There’s always some excitement in the air on the day towards the end of August when the year’s new intake of kindergarten students arrives at the school with their parents. Like explorers in a new land, both parents and children are often apprehensive as they walk down the corridor to the unknown territory of a kindergarten classroom, and so into to a new chapter of family life.

Children wonder what school will be like, while parents, having agreed to help at the school, may feel nervous about what they’ve committed to.

Sometimes parents – business people used to working in an office, for example – are unsure about what they should do when dropped in the middle of a group of energetic five- and six-year-olds, said Jean Ward, Chugach Optional’s long-time kindergarten teacher. But people talk to us and to each other, and soon get into the swing of things, said kindergarten teacher Caycee Rezola.

As the school year moves ahead parents really should come into the class at the start of school, rather than just dropping their kids off, said Jean. Better still, stay for at least a short while and work with the students as the first project of the day starts up, she added.

The morning sign-in and settling down period helps parents become acquainted with children besides their own in the family group, as well as enabling people to find out what will be happening in class.

“Sometimes there are some math-related sign-ins. Sometimes there’s the memory book or language arts,” Jean explained.

Besides the start of day, parents are welcome in the classroom at any time, perhaps to help with a lesson, or to help guide students through an activity.

“We hope that we share with the parents in our daily communications that they’re always welcome to come in at any time,” Caycee said.

And parents do not need to schedule their appearances in class ahead of time.

Sometimes people walk in saying “hey, I was on this side of town and I thought I would pop in,” Caycee said, adding that she and Jean always welcome that.

On the other hand, a pre-arranged visit enables Jean or Caycee to plan tasks and activities in advance, often enabling parents to make more efficient use of their time. The teacher may schedule an activity of particular interest to the parent helper, or arrange something that the parent is comfortable doing.

Preplanning can also be more productive for the classroom.

“If I know I’ll have three adults, I could play a new math game that I couldn’t introduce without their help,” Jean said.

Jean described how she will often put a parent in charge of a small group of students, with some general guidance of what is expected. However, it is important that parent helpers observe the teaching philosophy that Jean and Caycee follow, with parents modeling the way in which the teachers interact with the students, ensuring a consistent approach to encouraging the students through the kindergarten program.

Sometimes a parent will work on a home project, perhaps constructing some new structure for a science experiment or a study theme.

Parents also help out by taking on tasks from the kindergarten “task basket.” In fact, the way in which tasks magically disappear from that basket, as willing volunteers line up to see what’s needed, is a hallmark of the spirit of “pulling together” at Chugach, Jean commented.

“You work together, and you grow together, and you’re that family,” said Caycee.

Jean said that some parents worry that they don’t do enough.

“I would share with them that just their presence here and their interactions with the children are so important,” Jean said.

By being in the classroom, parents send a message about how much they value formal education, she said. It’s important to everyone in the school. But, most of all, it’s important to the child.