Take Your Family to School Week 2023
Take your family to school week is a National PTA event celebrated on February 13 to 17 in 2023. This tradition began in 2006 as a way for students families to meet the teachers.
PTA (Parents Teacher Association) was founded on February 17, 1897, as an organization with a mission to make schools a better place for children to learn and to facilitate parental participation in schools.
PTA encourages families and parents to be more engaged with their kid's education and schooling. The PTA units have to coordinate events and activities for the week while collaborating with school staff members, teachers, and principals.
When guardians and families are involved, it helps strengthen the association between families and school administrators and educators. It also helps students succeed by earning higher grades, regularly attending school, and having better social skills.
Here is everything you need to know about this school tradition, from how to observe, why it is important to tips for teachers and parents.
Ways To Celebrate Take Your Family To School Week
While planning the week, one has to consider the activities that would be appropriate for the student's age group. Make sure to notify the families ahead of time so they can participate.
Here are some ways to observe the annual school event:
Select A National PTA Programs Fit For Your School
Do focus on helping students with PTA programs such as Healthy minds, PTA connected, STEM+ Families, Reflections Art Program, School of Excellence, Healthy Lifestyles, and Family Reading Experience.
These programs are engaging, educational, and inspiring. They address the needs that families have and empower them to support the children's well-being and education.
Celebrate The Diversity At School
Celebrating diversity by welcoming all the families into the event is important. Make sure to make the meeting inclusive so that everyone feels welcome. You can add "Welcome" signs that are written in the languages students' families speak.
One can also hang banner paper on the wall to make a mural. Invite families and students to decorate and paint it to celebrate their heritage.
Organize A Student Art Show
Display students' craftwork, photographs, art, drawings, and paintings in the school library or halls. Invite parents and families to the art exhibit. Also, add some refreshments and appetizers. It could also double as a fundraiser for the school.
International Night And Family Dinner At School
Introducing families to different cultures from around the world via food and buffet dinners. Make sure to label each dish with its country of origin. Adding educational information on the places represented might also be a great idea.
Celebrate with Community Partnerships
Bringing in community partners to join the week at school is a great idea. You could invite the local library as well.
Invite a long-time community member or a local historian to talk to the students and families about the history or past. They can talk about the community's original residents and how the area developed.
Play Board Game Night
Organizing a fun little board game for families to bond with each other. Tournaments could also help parents meet new people.
Pictionary, Charades, Jenga, Taco vs. Burrito, Ticket to Ride, and King of Tokyo are some fun games to play.
Arrange A Family-Student-Faculty Sports Event
Sports is a great way to get everyone involved as it helps in team building. A game of basketball, football, volleyball, kickball, or even track and field is a good idea.
Parents, teachers, and students can compete against each other or be mixed up in teams.
Dads Club
Dads' club is for those fathers who want to be involved in their child's school. It was actually started because these meetings mostly only had mothers, and very few fathers' attended.
It has several programs and events that encourage fathers to take part in their children's lives and educations.
Some of the Dads club events that have turned out successful include the Father-Daughter dance, reading with dad, family health forum, mother's day breakfast, and family communication classes.
Valentine's Day Celebration At School
Families can join in to celebrate Valentine's Day at the school. This idea can be fruitful as this day falls between the PTA family in the school week.
Decorate the Hallways and cafeteria as per the theme and organize a fun little lunch for parents, students, and teachers. Making fun Valentine's Day cards together could also start a new tradition.
Arrange A Career and Job Fair Event
Students can be introduced to various kinds of jobs and careers. You can ask parents and guardians to talk in detail about their profession and what they do.
It is important for parents can have an open dialogue with the students about skills, summer jobs, internships, and what is expected at their first job, as per Insider.
A certain theme can also be added, such as Constructing Your Future and Passport to Success. If the kids are younger in age, they can make career bulletin boards, make their first resume, and do jobs on wheels as some of the activities.
Some other ideas for this school week event include:
- School Tours
- Reading Circles
- Student Talent Showcase
- Family Fun Festival
- Volunteering in classroom
- Hosting Parenting Class
- Listen to the 'Notes From The Backpack' podcast.
- Make the event inclusive to all parents and families.
- Workshop for parents on Financing college, graduation expectations, and various test-taking skills.
Why Is It Important?
This tradition began in 2006 and has since offered opportunities for families to learn more about their kids' education and school experiences.
- Children see that their education is valued when parents put their other commitments aside and attend the event.
- PTAs and these events encourage parents and teachers to learn more about the kids and ways to help them achieve their full potential.
- Teachers and educators see a new way to build optimistic affiliations with families.
- Parent-teacher interactions assist the well-being and growth of students.
- Children with strong parental involvement have higher overall achievement, higher self-esteem, and better social behavior.
- This event is an initiative by the PTA to get families some time out of their busy schedules to discuss their kids with the educators.
- Family and teachers have shared responsibility to facilitate a student's development and meet academic goals.
- When educators establish a relationship with families from the beginning, they are more than willing to be involved in the child's school life.
Tips For Parents
Being involved with your kids' education and school is very easy. It enhances academic achievement, quality of education, and the child's personality and makes a positive school culture.
Here are some tips for parents to make this annual school event easier:
- Attend the week's events and try to get involved in them.
- Get to know your child's teachers and work with them to help your child's education.
- These events can also be a great way to meet your child's classmates and their families.
- Be aware of how your children are performing in school, both academically and socially.
- Communicate clearly and establish a method of communication with the teachers. Face-to-face, e-mail, and mobile phones are some of them.
- Respond to both positive and negative feedback about the kid's progress.
- Discuss the classroom goals with the teachers.
There are some factors that might hinder the event. Some of them are scheduling conflicts, lack of cultural awareness, and transportation issues. However, teachers and parents need to work together to overcome these obstacles, as per Youth First.
Tips For Teachers
Here are some important tips for teachers to navigate the take family to school week.
- Encourage families to speak up about the ways students' performances might be affected. It could offer more support to the students and enable them to navigate challenges.
- Welcome every family as an education partner. Guide them on how to support students at home and help them achieve success.
- Connect families to the available resources and collaborate with community partners to help enhance the academic experiences.
- Empower children and their parents to contribute their voices and time to improve the school.
- Communicate with each family via phone or email, or handwritten notes. Make sure to include positive feedback, which helps build trust and respect.
- Make sure to give parents your contact details so that they can reach out whenever needed.
- Discuss all the classroom goals with the parents.
