Lincoln ESD 156 understands family makeup varies widely and can include parents, stepparents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, and others living in the household. Families also come from a variety of cultural backgrounds and have a variety of values and traditions.
At Lincoln, there are numerous and varied ways to effectively engage family members in their child’s preschool experience, from asking them to help out at the school to allowing them to take an active role in decision-making processes.
Parent Education
There are many opportunities to attend professional development at Lincoln, which provides a rich mix of information about issues of critical importance to parents. Workshops such as parenting skills, student and family health, education classes for parents, Family Reading and Math programs to name a few. We also have a yearly conference for parents at the Superintendents’ Commission for the Study of Demographics and Diversity, which offers a variety of workshops and includes breakfast, lunch, childcare and transportation. All of these opportunities are free to parents.
Child Learning
At Lincoln, there are many opportunities to be involved in your child’s education. We have Parent/Child Craft Days where each child invites a guest to make a craft with them. You are also encouraged to participate/volunteer in activities or help with classroom needs, go on field trips at no cost to you to partake in educational experiences outside of school. You are also encouraged to assist assemblies for your child. We celebrate the Week of the Young Child and you are encouraged to attend daily activities that revolved around a theme. We also have a Lending Library where parents are encouraged to borrow books and educational games that will allow parents to work with their students at home.
Involvement
Parents are also encouraged to attend PTA and other school events and volunteer opportunities. For example, a group of parents decorated the preschool hallway to encourage attendance.
Decision Making and Advocacy
At the beginning of the year, parents are given a survey in Spanish or English to develop a needs assessment. During the school year, parents are encouraged to complete the 5Essentials survey for the district. Parents meet with teachers at least twice a year during Parent/Teacher Conferences however, teachers are available to meet with parents as needed. During Parent/Teacher Conferences, data is shared with parents regarding their child’s development as well as activities that parents can do at home to help develop support the teacher. Parents are invited to Title I Parent meetings, which meet twice a year, and there is a preschool parent represented in the Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee (BPAC), which meets once a month. We have also developed an Early Childhood Education Parent Advisory Committee (ECE PAC) that meets bi-monthly.
Our goal is to meet these four principles:
· Develop system that support family engagement
· Build welcoming and supportive environments
· Enhance communication with parents
· Include parents in decision making
Parent Reources
You may look at this section for resources or at our resources page at L156.org
Illinois State Board of Education's Preschool Websites: Preschool for All and Preschool for All Expansion.