Case
Parents that are too busy

There is a bright and cheerful young girl in the second grade classroom I am currently spending time in. She struggles with all sorts of things, but especially reading. My CT recently spoke to her father about getting more reading time in at home and he got very defensive. She said that even ten minutes a night would really help the student, but he continued that they (the parents) had to work and were too busy. What would you do to convince this parent that those ten minutes are critical to his daughter's success?

Posted on: 02/22/18 | Views: 699
Solution #1
Top Solution
Try as you might, convincing an busy parent is a serious undertaking that you may never win. It may be more beneficial for the student to find other supports for them in the school. Is there tutoring available? A reading club? Is a leader in the after school program able to read with the student? You may also find a mentor volunteer that would come in and spend time eating lunch and reading with the student. It would also be beneficial to model for the student on how they can come into the library and find interesting books, audio books and even applications for their tablet that they can use to read. Giving them an introduction to the tools that may help them be successful throughout their education would surely benefit them if they do not have educational support at home.

If I were in this situation, I would exactly do this.

If i were in your shoes, I would do this exact thing. I think that busy parents are simply going to always be busy. Finding the students additional support would be best.

I would do the same thing if I was in this situation.

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Solution #2
I would have the student still look up YouTube read alouds so that they're getting some type of help with listening to an adult read to them. If the student goes to an after school program, have the counselors read to them as well.

I like the idea of having an adult at an after school program read to the kids. I currently work at an after school program and will often read to my kids because their parents are busy.

I would have never thought about an online read aloud! might be beneficial.

I would not use read aloud for the student. I think that this is not personal enough and the student still needs emotional support from an adult. Giving the student a mentor or providing tutor help would be best in my eyes.

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Solution #3
If the parents say they are too busy I would offer one on one help after school or if the child is in an after care program they often have homework time or someone to sit down and read one on one with the student.

I agree!

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Solution #4
In my second grade class there is very little homework that is sent home each night (maybe a worksheet for math and reading). My CT tells parents if the student spends more than 20 minutes working on the homework to stop them. It is not there to cause a burden. She would much rather have the student spend time reading. Perhaps the teacher can cut back on "homework" and strictly assign the student to read for "homework" nightly. Or the teacher can send home a fluency reading passage for the student to work on. The student reads for one minute with a parent and they sign off on it. It is literally only one minute out of the evening. This may be a good way to ease the parents into incorporating reading into their nighttime routine.
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Solution #5
I would have the student read 10 minutes every day in your class, so that way you have data to show the parents of how the student is improving.
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Solution #6
Hi Kady, A possible solution would be write the parents a letter giving them tips to make the most out of their time with their kids. Now you don't have to make the parents feel like their bad parents, just make a list of tips for all your students and send those home. One tip might be to set aside half an hour on the weekends or his day off and have a meeting with his daughter where he read to her for 10 minutes. Another tip can be to set aside 15 minutes before he goes off to work. Maybe it means waking up his daughter 15 minutes early, but it's better than nothing.
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Solution #7
I would send the grades or the printed data where the student struggles and send home to the parents. Maybe you can email or text the parents to remind them to read with their kid.
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Solution #8
I would recommend showing her parent a report of her current reading level. If it is significantly below average it may give him incentive to take the time to improve her reading skills.
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Solution #9
FLEXIBILITY is the key. maybe you could share a written document or report with the child and the parents can read it on the time they work for them and send you a written explanation back.
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Solution #10
My first question while reading this is if the parents are at work, then where is the child? Is the child with the grandparents or a babysitter? The parents could ask for the grandparent or babysitter to do the reading with the child. I would send home a newsletter or a reading log (that is a grade) for the students (whole class) to complete. I would make the reading a requirement for the whole class to make the parents more accountable for their child's education.
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Solution #11
I think you should really encourage the student to take charge of her reading and try her best to practice at home. I think this decision should not only involve the parents, but also the student. You as a teacher could give her a book to take home every night so she can read. You could also mark pages for her so she knows where to start and stop in the book. This way she won't have to ask her parents if its been 10 minutes yet.
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