Creating Welcoming Schools: A Practical Guide to Home-School Partnerships with Diverse Families

Abstract

The connection between the school life of students and their home lives is extremely important in today’s world. Learning must be extended beyond the walls and doors of the physical school environment. In order to impress this point upon children, parents must be fully involved in the educational process. When families feel a sense of detachment towards the stakeholders in their child’s learning, a sense of apathy towards school-related items can begin to occur. This must avoided at all costs. JoBeth Allen delves into the various ways that schools, communities, and parents can come together to form an optimal pedagogical environment. Allen places well-developed narratives throughout her book to allow the reader to reflect and understand the complexities that exist within the challenges of forming these vital home-school-community bonds. The ideas contained in Creating Welcoming Schools: A Practical Guide to Home-School Partnerships With Diverse Families are useful for a vast range of age and grade levels, and the recommended strategies can be gradually employed according the comfort and experience level of the individual educator who is implementing them.