A Fun Parent Conference Giveaway
In my August newsletter I mentioned that I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Karen Mapp, renowned for her work on family engagement, speak at this year’s National ESEA Conference.
Then over the summer I read her co-authored book Everyone Wins! The Evidence for Family-School Partnerships & Implications for Practice.
In her presentation and throughout the book, Dr. Mapp underscored the importance of moving from informing parents and caregivers about their children’s learning to including families as active participants.
It begins with building relationships through on-going conversations between teacher and parent. These conversations help build mutual trust and respect as each side has the opportunity to share knowledge and insights about the child in order to achieve the shared goal of student success.
Math Conversations
When we designed our Power Pack dice game series, one of our goals was to begin that back-and-forth conversation. Since games offer a great way to practice important skills in a fun and engaging environment, beginning the math conversation using games seemed like the perfect place to start.
Here’s how these games work:
Parents are sent a letter introducing them to the Power Pack games. The letter explains how playing games at home is a great way to reinforce classroom learning.
Then, as a new skill is learned, teachers send home one of the games from the pack that reinforces the skill. Along with the game is a Check-in Chat slip.
This Check-in Chat is important. After the game is played, the Check-in Chat offers parents and caregivers the opportunity to share their experience playing the game with their child. They can also share comments or insights into their child’s learning. These comments are helpful to the teacher who can then use them to tailor instruction.
Introducing the Games during Conferences
Parent-teacher conferences are a great opportunity to explain to parents the importance of on-going conversations about their child’s learning. It’s also the perfect opportunity to introduce them to the games and Check-in Chat…and maybe even send them home with their first game to play.
Games as Homework
Did you know that current research says homework can be effective when it piques students’ interest, doesn’t take too long, and allows repeated exposure to master new skills? It’s no surprise that games fit the bill on each of these. That’s why using Power Pack games as a part of students’ homework is a perfect way for them to practice the skills they need to become confident math learners.
Here’s one of the games from our Intermediate (2/3) pack:
