Diane W. Kyle – författare

"The timing for Reaching Out could not have been better. Just when educators are beginning to realize that teachers need training in how to work with parents, Kyle, McIntyre, Miller, and Moore bring us a book that is a welcome breath of fresh air."—Patricia A. Edwards, Professor of Language and LiteracyMichigan State University"Reaching Out describes a great variety of ways to respectfully and productively engage families in helping their children learn and grow. Throughout the text the reader is reminded that parents are experts about their children and that trusting relationships are built on respectful, two-way communications. The authors also remind us that the goal of family involvement is not parent participation at school events and activities but improved student achievement."—Steve McCafferty, PrincipalMildred Dean School, Newport, KYInvolve families in the education process and enhance your students′ learning experience!Too often, today′s student feels alienated from school, and learning suffers as a result. Developing a relationship with the family can provide the missing link in the educational chain. Reaching Out is an invaluable resource for compassionate educators interested in building strong relationships with their students′ families. A dynamic team of teachers and teacher educators have combined their first-hand experience and in-depth research in this essential guidebook. By involving the entire family in the educational experience, teachers can bridge the gap separating home and school and help produce happier, healthier, and smarter kids.Highlights include:Building trust with families Communicating in positive ways with students′ families Implementing family workshops Involving families through innovative homework ideas Based on a five-year study, the information will be particularly helpful for teachers whose classrooms reflect a diverse student population. By incorporating these concepts and techniques, you not only enhance the learning experience you also help your students to be more compassionate and excited about school.

"The timing for Reaching Out could not have been better. Just when educators are beginning to realize that teachers need training in how to work with parents, Kyle, McIntyre, Miller, and Moore bring us a book that is a welcome breath of fresh air."—Patricia A. Edwards, Professor of Language and LiteracyMichigan State University

"Reaching Out describes a great variety of ways to respectfully and productively engage families in helping their children learn and grow. Throughout the text the reader is reminded that parents are experts about their children and that trusting relationships are built on respectful, two-way communications. The authors also remind us that the goal of family involvement is not parent participation at school events and activities but improved student achievement."—Steve McCafferty, PrincipalMildred Dean School, Newport, KY

Involve families in the education process and enhance your students' learning experience!

Too often, today's student feels alienated from school, and learning suffers as a result. Developing a relationship with the family can provide the missing link in the educational chain. Reaching Out is an invaluable resource for compassionate educators interested in building strong relationships with their students' families.

A dynamic team of teachers and teacher educators have combined their first-hand experience and in-depth research in this essential guidebook. By involving the entire family in the educational experience, teachers can bridge the gap separating home and school and help produce happier, healthier, and smarter kids.

Highlights include:

Building trust with families Communicating in positive ways with students' families Implementing family workshops Involving families through innovative homework ideas

Based on a five-year study, the information will be particularly helpful for teachers whose classrooms reflect a diverse student population. By incorporating these concepts and techniques, you not only enhance the learning experience you also help your students to be more compassionate and excited about school.

"Bridging School and Home Through Family Nights is a handy book that practitioners can readily pick up and select activities, ideas, and themes for including families in the learning process. This practical book offers thirteen self-contained units full of activities, sample invitations, agendas, charts-everything a staff member needs to plan a successful event."Susan N. Imamura, Principal Manoa Elementary School, Honolulu, HI  "The useful content, reader-friendly tone, and easy-to-understand style speak directly to teachers and school staff responsible for parent involvement activities. The family nights can be used as a series of yearlong family activities or school staff can pick and choose the family nights that fit their academic focus." Michele R. Dean, Principal Montalvo Elementary School, Ventura, CAImprove student achievement through academically focused family nights! Research confirms the link between family involvement and academic success. Yet, as student populations become increasingly diverse, educators face a daunting challenge in establishing close connections with families. Bridging School and Home Through Family Nights: Ready-to-Use Plans for Grades K-8 offers all the information, materials, and resources for planning and implementing events that build effective relationships. Drawing on their own experiences and extensive research, the authors include information on adapting events for special populations, issues around providing food and incentives, cost-saving ideas, and additional resources. Each of the book′s thirteen family night chapters is a self-contained unit that provides event procedures, needed materials, connections with national standards, and numerous reproducibles, including: Invitations Agendas Sign-in sheets Evaluation forms Activity worksheets Handouts Overheads Productive family night experiences offer an enjoyable and meaningful way for schools to reach out to families and get them involved. This book is appropriate for K-8 teachers and principals or anyone in the school or district responsible for family events.

"Bridging School and Home Through Family Nights is a handy book that practitioners can readily pick up and select activities, ideas, and themes for including families in the learning process. This practical book offers thirteen self-contained units full of activities, sample invitations, agendas, charts-everything a staff member needs to plan a successful event."Susan N. Imamura, Principal Manoa Elementary School, Honolulu, HI  "The useful content, reader-friendly tone, and easy-to-understand style speak directly to teachers and school staff responsible for parent involvement activities. The family nights can be used as a series of yearlong family activities or school staff can pick and choose the family nights that fit their academic focus." Michele R. Dean, Principal Montalvo Elementary School, Ventura, CAImprove student achievement through academically focused family nights! Research confirms the link between family involvement and academic success. Yet, as student populations become increasingly diverse, educators face a daunting challenge in establishing close connections with families. Bridging School and Home Through Family Nights: Ready-to-Use Plans for Grades K-8 offers all the information, materials, and resources for planning and implementing events that build effective relationships. Drawing on their own experiences and extensive research, the authors include information on adapting events for special populations, issues around providing food and incentives, cost-saving ideas, and additional resources. Each of the book′s thirteen family night chapters is a self-contained unit that provides event procedures, needed materials, connections with national standards, and numerous reproducibles, including: Invitations Agendas Sign-in sheets Evaluation forms Activity worksheets Handouts Overheads Productive family night experiences offer an enjoyable and meaningful way for schools to reach out to families and get them involved. This book is appropriate for K-8 teachers and principals or anyone in the school or district responsible for family events.

"A highly accessible and practical resource for applying sociocultural theory to both pedagogy and parent involvement. It begins with theory, but then provides excellent examples of how the principles might be meaningfully applied in real classrooms."—Robert Rueda, ProfessorUniversity of Southern CaliforniaEnsure high student achievement in diverse classrooms with this proven instructional model! This vital resource presents educators with an instructional approach that is flexible and practical enough for mainstream classroom use—yet also academically rigorous and grounded in research on teaching English language learners (ELLs).Ideal for elementary and middle school teachers as well as ELL specialists, this book offers six key principles to help educators address language development in a regular classroom while supporting ELL students in learning academic content. This field-tested model is based on five standards for pedagogy from the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE) as well as the authors′ sixth principle for family involvement. Focusing on one principle per chapter, this book includes:Lessons, tips, and in-depth vignettes from teachers who have been trained in the modelAdvice on working successfully with ELL families Guiding questions and self-assessments based on CREDE′s indicators for achievement of standards to help teachers monitor their own development Six Principles for Teaching English Language Learners in All Classrooms will not only assist ELLs, but will ultimately benefit all learners in the inclusive classroom.