Family Engagement
Supporting Engagement in Home Routines
Creating a home-school connection might include helping caregivers plan to increase their child's engagement and participation in home routines. The template provided is a fillable PDF, so you may share it electronically or print out a paper copy. Examples are also provided below.
Ideas for using this resource include:
Identify the family's goal for their child and then create a plan to practice at home.
Determine any home routines that the child is not engaged or participating the way the caregiver would like and then brainstorm ideas to increase engagement.
What ideas do you have to use this tool with families?
Examples: Supporting Engagement during Home Routines
Engagment in Home Routines_fillable.pdfSpanish
Hmong
Spanish-CEM Infographic_ Engagement in Routines-PowerPoint file.pdfHmong-CEM Infographic Engagement in Routines.pdfOjibwe
Somali
Ojibwe-CEM Infographic_ Engagement in Routines-PowerPoint file.pdfSamali-CEM Infographic_ Engagement in Routines-PowerPoint file.pdfRoutines and Learning at Home
The following videos offer ideas to partner with families to support their child's learning at home. First, we might share information with families about creating consistent, predictable routines whenever possible. It is important for us to respect each families' individual culture and perspective, supporting them to develop a routine that meets their child's needs and builds on their families' strengths. We can also support the family to consider what their child is learning during the routine or what skills we could add to the routine to practice.
Food for Thought:
What ideas do you have to engage families in conversations about routines and learning at home?
How do you maintain an open-minded, non-judgmental approach during conversations with families and caregivers?
In what ways could your program add family engagement to current district activities, such as open houses, communication apps, newsletters or conferences?
Family survey template
The family survey template is one way your implementation team may choose to gather information from families to increase their engagement. The survey was designed to help your team meet the Benchmarks of Quality indicators related to family engagement.
The template is meant to be a starting point for your team
Each program will need to make a copy of the template before using
Programs can edit the questions and responses to meet your team's needs
Teams may consider adding the specific resources your program uses to share information, such as newsletters, parent handbooks, family conference goals, etc.
The final link is to another survey template. Teams will need to create a copy of this template before using as well
Resources to share with families
Introduction to CEM for New Families (Template)
CEM family welcome info bullets.pdfClick on the buttons below for additional resources for increasing family engagement:
Finley's Parent-Teacher conference
PT2-v07 Parent Teacher Conference.mp4As you watch this video, created and shared by the Colorado Department of Education, consider using the personal reflection guide to jot down your thoughts:
How does this parent-teacher conference use the DEC Recommended Practices to support family engagement?
How do you currently use conferences to build partnerships with families?
What did you notice about the discussion? What was included? What was missing? What surprised you?
What new ideas might you try?
H5_Implementing Family Practices Reflection.pdftake some time to reflect on your practices:
8. CEM Engaging Families Self ReflectionEngaging Families Self-Reflection
Reflecting can help you focus on your practice and identify the support you need and the goals you want to set for your classroom.