School-to-Home Notebooks

Presented by Kim, Ernie, and Felicia

ObjectiveO Explore options for home-school

communicationO Gain understanding of parent

perspectives on home-school notebooks

O Understand best uses for notebooks

1st Get Parents’ Perspective

O Native LanguageO Reading Ability and LiteracyO Parent’s ability to manage more

paperwork

What CAN be Conveyed in Writing?

O What happened in child’s dayO Assuring child was actively

participatingO Contributed info from home to help

staffO Instructional ThemesO Teaching Strategies for homeO TroubleshootingO Health concerns

Who Will Write in Notebook?

O Departmentalized Settings?O Paraprofessional?O Teacher?

When Will Person-to-Person be Needed?

O Parents sometimes feel helpless

Include Problem-Solving

O Parent’s feel that reports of behavior 6 hrs. after incident are useless

O Child might not remember incidentO Ex) “Today your child bit an eraser

off of a pencil”O Are you asking me to punish my

child?

RememberO Write so parents will want to readO Reread for misinterpretation or

meaningO Use good judgment for brief notes

Review objectiveO How can home-school notebooks be

beneficial?O What are some important things to

consider before using a home-school notebook?

ReferencesO Arti J., Eberly J., & Konzal J. (2007).

Communicating with Families Across Cultures: An Investigation of Teacher Perceptions and Practices. The School Community Journal. Vol 17.,no.2 , 7-26

O Davern, L. (2004). School-to-Home Notebooks, What Parents Have to Say. Teaching Exceptional Children. Vol. 36, no. 35. 22-27.

O Fonteine H., Vlaskamp C., & Zijlstra H. P. (2008). Transfer of Information Between Parents and Teachers of Children with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities at Special Educational Centers. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities. Vol 21, 477-483