Research shows that children are more likely to succeed academically and are less likely to engage in violent behavior if their families are involved in their education. Many parents say, however, that they feel unwelcome or uncomfortable in their children's schools. Teachers often feel under attack by parents who are highly involved. Learn how to bridge the gap. Included: A dozen activities to promote parental involvement and ten tips for involved parents.

Starting off the year strong by building relationships and trust with parents through an early welcome. This video was created by Jessica Wall and Pam Sawatzky for the 2021-22 Sun West iLearn sessions.A strategy guide for educators is also included. 

Spend sometime exploring the basic foundations of parent engagment and then learn about a variety of classroom strategies you can use to engage parents in student learning.

Designed to help teachers build positive relationships with families, this Module highlights the diversity of families and addresses the factors that school personnel should understand about working with the families of children with disabilities (est. completion time: 1 hour).

*Digital citizenship (balanced usage)
*EdTech rating & reviews
*Expert advice
*Family engagement resources
*Free monthly webinars

*Digital Passport & Digital Compass games for students
*Videos, toolkits, lesson plans, posters, and more!

*sign up for the weekly newsletter for tips and advice

230 conversation starters to get the conversation rolling!

The starters are for various ages and maturity levels. As the parent, you know your child best and we will leave it to you to select appropriate starters.

-getting to know your child
-your relationship with your child
-family
-blended and adopted families
-values and character
-school and learning
-emotions
-friendships and peers
-bullying
-drugs and alcohol
-consent, love, marriage and sexual preference
-body image and gender roles
-spirituality

The AI Family Challenge is a free, hands-on AI education program that brings families, schools, communities, and technology know-it-alls together to give everyone the chance to learn, play and create with AI.

Seesaw is a valuable learning and communication tool to bring the classroom experience into the homes of your students and engage parents as partners in their child’s education. Documentation of learning, through Seesaw, will have an incredible impact on engagement as it showcases evidence and growth of learning in a timely and family-friendly manner. The continuum guide is intended to provide educators with concrete formative assessment examples of the types, and depth, of information that educators can track and share with families. Adapted and developed with permission from Prairie Valley School Division No. 208 and Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division No.119

The following is a collection of resources and strategies to help teachers connect with families positively and engage them in their child's learning. Use this resource to help ensure you have a family friendly school with parents involved in the school and their child's education.
Community connections are also explored.
Together the parents, teacher, student and community can work together to forge a positive and successful experience for all stakeholders involved.

This is a collection of tools to assess the effectiveness of family engagement in a school's learning community.

This resource, produced by the National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (co-authored by HFRP’s Christine Patton and M. Elena Lopez), discusses the importance of families’ support for their children’s learning and development as children transition to new environments. The resource positions the transition to kindergarten as a pivotal point for establishing the kinds of practices that can help sustain gains children have made in their early learning settings, and offers examples of successful program practices that Head Start and Early Head Start staff can use to help children and families with this transition.

These bookmarks can be used in a variety of ways to provide students with feedback on their reading or writing.  Feedback can be provided by family members, teachers, peers or even themselves. Four different bookmarks are provided, and they are provided in an editable format if you wish to change them to better fit your needs. 

"Now more than ever, families need ideas and resources to help manage learning at home. So we’ve created a new resource for you to share with your students’ parents or caregivers.
This Teachable Moment, a free eBook available for download now, offers an intro to Project Based Learning and 21 easy-to-implement, “follow the recipe” PBL projects, designed for children of all ages and capabilities.
These projects can be used to keep kids learning, growing, and discovering during this summer, while giving families the space and time needed to stay productive."

Get the eBook - Download it and get 21 ready to go PBL activities!

Please find the required PowerPoint presentation below.  This workshop has been developed as part of the course Parents in Teaching and Learning (ECUR 823) at the University of Saskatchewan with professor Debbie Pushor.This workshop is meant to be personalized.  Select the activities you wish to discuss, and spend as much or as little time on the concepts that speak fully to your school.  As you select activities and where to put your focus think of what needs to be done as a school and as a classroom teacher before school begins, during school, and over the summer.  Pick and choose the activities that best fit your school and your school’s needs.If you have any questions, feedback, or require clarification please feel free to call or email Melissa.lander@sunwestsd.ca. 

This course includes 8 modules & will take approximately 4 hours to complete in its entirety.

Modules include topics such as:
GSD 101
Understanding the Context
Two-Spirit
Policy
Family & Community Engagement
Transgender Youth

"This seven part video series on parent engagement, explains how important it is for educators and parents to engage well with one another to enhance educational outcomes for our young children.This video series is supported by the provincial Early Years Outcome Team and the Ministry of Education."

This is a series of Modules for Administrators from Saskreads.

The modules are comprehensive and provide information from the planning stages to implementation.

These excellent resources walk administrators through accomplishing the task at hand in a step by step manner.

Modules Include:
Family Engagement
Time Management (to provide extra literacy support)
Data Analysis
Building Your Data Team
School Data Review
Instructional Walks
Shared Reading
The Big Ideas of Reading
Building Literacy Teams
SCC Sharing Reading Supports
Environmental Walk
Being a Lead Learner
Developing Shared Beliefs