Many schools require their teachers to conduct a family conference at the home of each student. Home visits and visits by families to the teachers home are common practices in other cultures. Visits may be scheduled at the beginning of the year so that teachers, students, and parents can get to know each other. They may also serve as goal setting conferences so that teachers are aware of the family's priorities and goals for their student. Goals may be social, emotional, physical, and/or academic. The teacher can also be made aware of any special needs child child may have. Proponents of home visits believe that parents feel more comfortable meeting on their own turf, instead of at school.
On the other hand, some teachers feel uncomfortable with home visits because they feel this mixes professional and personal territory. Especially if the child attends before/after school care, at-school visits give parents a rare chance to see the classroom. Some parents may feel that home conferences are intrusive.
My colleagues and I would like to receive feedback from both parents and teachers regarding home visits.
I belive children beginning school should have time in the classroom prior to the first day helping them to feel comfortable with the teacher and the room. To that end, meetings with families should be conducted at school with the allotted time determined by the teacher/s. Any special needs could be discussed at that time.
ReplyDeleteHome visits can be an integral part in connecting teachers and students. Some parents did not have great experiences in schools and still carry a "fear" of school with them. For these families, a home visit is essential. However, for the vast majority of parents in my classroom, that fear does not seem to exist. It may become more of an issue as the children age and progress into more academic settings. For my class, I think home visits could be an option, but I think "open house" type activities are more useful for my age group (2year olds).
ReplyDeleteI would personally be a little hesitant for home visits, only because I don't want to blur the lines between school and home. Drawing from experience as both a nanny and a mother, I've seen that kids often behave the worst when they're around their parents--mine are no exception! However, their teachers have all had an ability to maintain order and expect respect and a certain level of obedience; I wonder what would happen if that teacher then comes to their home--would the dynamic change? Would there be a confusion about who is the "boss"? There already seems to be such a drastic drop in respect for authority figures, so anything I can do to prevent that from happening (or at least slow its progression) would be a good thing...
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