The Harvard Family Research Project separated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education to become the Global Family Research Project as of January 1, 2017. It is no longer affiliated with Harvard University.
Discussion Board: Let's Talk Transition! Family Engagement During the Transition to School
The transition to school is a key time in the lives of children and their families. It is a process that begins with a child’s preschool enrollment and extends to the first three years of elementary school. When educators from early learning settings and schools actively engage families in their child’s transition, children benefit.
We know that family engagement begins to drop off as children leave early childhood programs and enter formal schooling. We also know that the quality of transition services is often characterized by inequities and misperceptions based on families’ income, immigrant status, and race.
To initiate a public dialogue about these issues and help educators and administrators engage families during the transition, Harvard Family Research Project’s Christine Patton, in partnership with Shannon Wanless, of the SEED Lab at the University of Pittsburgh, launched an open discussion board, Let's Talk Transition! Family Engagement During the Transition to School.
The board provides educators and administrators nine steps toward setting goals for engaging families during the transition to school. As kindergarten transition coordinators, preschool and kindergarten teachers, school counselors, curriculum supervisors, and others walk through the nine steps, they are asking questions related to:
- Making more and deeper connections among the key players in the transition
- Helping transition children and families who arrive at the school well into the kindergarten year
- Developing policies and processes at the district level to seamlessly transition children and families
- Creating new transition programs.
Reply to others’ comments and questions by posting your thoughts and resources. As you walk through the nine steps, share your experiences with and pose your questions to other board users. Use these exchanges as opportunities to refine your ideas and help others refine theirs.
Participate today! http://familyengagementgoal.wordpress.com/ And, to stay informed of future HFRP Interact events, sign up for our mailing list.