Running head: USING A STORYBOOK TO INVOLVE FAMILIES

Using a Storybook to Involve Families

USING A STORYBOOK TO INVOLVE FAMILIES Summary of the text: I have chosen the book Sam and Gram and the First Day of School, as it helps realize that the first day at school is really very important to children,

because they change the atmosphere, they change home surrounding into school surrounding and thus they get acquainted with a lot of new children. As a matter of fact, everything that is new is embarrassing and stressful. So, the primary task of parents and other relatives (in our case, a grandmother) is to provide support for children and make them focus their attention on positive and pleasant moments. Later on, parents can help their children adapt to school life in many different ways, the main purpose of which is to make their children feel comfortable and demonstrate good results in the process of studying. One of the most important means of improving childrens school life is to suggest innovative ideas and decisions that will never be left aside. As members of some committees, parents help make important decisions about the school (Mayer, 2007, p. 16). Having read this book, I hope to apply this knowledge when working with children and their parents. First of all, I would let children realize how many interesting things they are likely to experience during their first day at school and I would emphasize that it is vitally important that parents and close relatives provide their children with solid support during the first day. Actually, the first day at school will depict both positive and negative moments, but what attitude towards school a child will form strongly depends on parental support. A Family Letter: Dear parents, I would like to express my feelings of happiness concerning our future cooperation. I know that you like your children very much and would do your best in order to make the life of your children at school wonderful and pleasant.

USING A STORYBOOK TO INVOLVE FAMILIES Have you ever thought over how important the first day at school is? If yes, then you

are on the right way. If no, then you just in time to join our discussion of the book that will let you realize how important it is to support your children, to make them reflect on positive experience, to make them realize that they will make a lot of positive acquaintances and friends who will remain friends in their future life as well. If you are interested in the first step of socialization of your child, if you believe that now the destiny of your children and the destiny of their future life depend on you, then do not waste a minute and come to the discussion of the book Sam and Gram and the first day of School. Be sure that here you will find a lot of answers to your questions and you will be welcomed to ask any questions that are significant to you. Yours sincerely, Teacher. 5 Discussion Questions: 1. What feelings did the boy practice during his first day at school? Do you think that

those feelings are typical for children who are at school for the first time? Why? 2. Did the grandmother interact with the boy after school? In what way? Was it

effective? 3. Did the boys attitude towards school change after a conversation with the

grandmother? Did it change for the better or for the worse? 4. Remember the boys conversation with his mother. Do you believe that he expressed

his true feelings or did he say all that to please his grandmother? Explain your answer. 5. If you were in the grandmothers shoes, what would you do in this situation? Do you

believe that the methods used by the grandmother were effective? If yes, explain why. / If no, provide other methods that are more effective in your opinion. Two Activities to be Completed in the Class:

USING A STORYBOOK TO INVOLVE FAMILIES 1. Students and parents will be divided into two separate groups. Students will have to share their opinions concerning the feelings they had during their first day at school, while parents will have to share their opinions concerning their childrens first day at school. After that, a leader from each group will be chosen and that leader will have to summarize the opinions of all members of the group and make them public. (This activity will let parents

observe the first day at school from the perspective of children and thus they will realize what they should do in order to make their children feel comfortable and convenient at school since their first day there). 2. Children and parents will work in pairs and will create dialogues, where the first day at school will be described. After that, all parents will work together and will discuss what problems their children experience during their first day at school. (This activity, first of all, will let parents and children communicate and discuss different problems. Secondly, this activity will help summarize a lot of typical problems and thus will push them to take serious measures to avoid these problems later on). One Activity to be Completed at Home: Family members will be asked to create a friendly atmosphere at home and in such an atmosphere they will be asked to define individual social roles and their investment in childrens education-socialization process development at school. Family members will discuss how they can help children avoid a number of problems at school and how they can overcome different barriers at school during their first day there. Evaluation Form: Parents will be provided with a questionnaire, where they will have to answer different questions, such as: How effective do you find this program?, What advantages and disadvantages does it have?, What do you like to improve?, and many others. After that, they

USING A STORYBOOK TO INVOLVE FAMILIES

will be asked to write a few words, commenting on their general impression of the suggested program.

USING A STORYBOOK TO INVOLVE FAMILIES References Bloomberg, D. (1999). Sam and Gram and the First Day of School. Washington, D: Magination Press. Print. Family Involvement Storybook Corner: Harvard Family Research Project. (2006). Harvard Graduate School of Education. Available at http://www.hfrp.org/familyinvolvement/publications-resources/family-involvement-storybook-corner. Klein, A. S., Miller, M. In Support of Family-Teacher Partnerships. Available at <

http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=35 9>. Littlefield, J. 4 Ways to Balance Family and School. Available at http://distancelearn.about.com/od/managingyourwork/a/familyandschool.htm. Mayer, E. (2007). Tomasitos Mother Comes to School. Available at http://www.hfrp.org/var/hfrp/storage/fckeditor/File/tomasito.pdf.