Teachers can prepare themselves for angry confrontations with parents by learning how to cope with parent anger and channeling it into positive action. A five-step process, the I.D.E.A.L. system, is outlined and recommended as an effective technique for converting angry parents into collaborators. (IAH)

This article describes the concepts and activities of the Write Stuff Workshop, a joint venture that brings parents and children together as allies in writing. Topics include planning the workshop, workshop activities, and at-home follow-up activities for parents and students. Three reproducibles for parents are included. (IAH)

Home-school-community collaborative programs often fail because of lack of administrative support and the difficulty of involving many lower income parents. Recommends supervision at the district level and care in choosing programs and personnel appropriate to the site. (DM)

When coaches establish an effective working relationship with parents, the quality of the athlete's, coach's, and parent's experience improves. This article outlines techniques for coaches to gain the confidence and support of parents, to help parents formulate wholesome expectations, and to enlist parents' aid in developing skill and…

Involving parents is a good way to promote student success. By sharing an interactive homework assignment, teachers can help parents understand what their children are learning about averages and how they can reinforce the learning at home. Two reproducibles provide models for teachers to create math take-homes. (SM)

Presents the experiences of an art teacher during the first year of teaching art to elementary students. Discusses methods of developing a creatively fulfilling art class, including how the artroom was transformed into the "Paintbrush Palace" and how the teacher became "Queen Paintbrush." (DB)

Offers suggestions for home-school collaboration for elementary-grade students with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in the areas of assessment and behavior plans, monitoring medication, and coordinating homework. Sample forms and schedules as well as a list of resources are included. (DB)

Discussion of the role of play in development of young children with disabilities considers the different forms of play as the child develops, the social nature of play, contexts and play materials, and the value of including play goals and strategies in the individualized family service plan or individual education program developed cooperatively…

Twenty strategies are presented for enhancing the involvement of parents from diverse backgrounds, including: exploring parents' expectations, learning about the family's culture, providing communication in many forms, making use of casual contacts with parents, planning different times for conferences, involving interpreters, and linking…

This paper reports a survey of 355 parents and 166 teachers of young children starting school in New South Wales, Australia. Parents and teachers were asked to rate a list of 20 items in answer to the question 'How important are the following for deciding whether a child has had a successful first two terms of school?' The results are presented in…

Meeting a crucial need, this book provides clear recommendations for authentic developmental assessment of children from infancy to age 6, including those with developmental delays and disabilities. It describes principles and strategies for collecting information about children's everyday activities in the home, preschool, and community, which…

Providing a low-key, nonthreatening way for teachers and parents to build partnerships for kids, this book presents short, concrete activities in English and Spanish to foster communication between teachers and parents and between parents and children. While the activities in the book are designed for kindergartners, none of the activities have…

Noting that educators agree that involving parents in their children's education improves students' school performance, this paper offers strategies that teachers, schools, and districts can use to help parents feel welcome as partners in their children's education. The strategies discussed in the paper are for educators to: communicate frequently…

This annotated bibliography presents resources that will enable parents to fulfill their responsibility for developing their children's abilities to do mathematics, while at the same time encouraging more positive attitudes towards mathematics. The resources are divided into three categories: (1) activities initiated in the home, (2) activities…

Built on the experiences of educators and parents who have put research into practice to improve children's learning, this book focuses on the interdependence of educators and parents and their partnership of support for children. The first chapter, "Parent Involvement: Promises, Problems, and Solutions" (Rebecca Crawford Burns), provides a review…