4 Ways to Engage Parents in Your Students’ Math Learning
March 2, 2018
Want to engage parents in your students’ math learning? It’s not as difficult as you might think and the benefits are tremendous.
Carolee Koehn is a facilitator of professional development workshops for K-12 math teachers. She says bridging the gap between home and school when it comes to math learning can bring major benefits to you and your students (think increases in engagement, STEM Skills, and strategies for solving problems).
We asked Koehn, who is also one of the authors of Young Children’s Mathematics, to share her tips for engaging parents in students’ math learning.
1. Boost your communication
Use your newsletter or even your homework sheet to demonstrate what’s happening in your math lessons. Tell parents what you expect from students in their homework assignments and the reasons behind your expectations.
“For instance, if you want students to have two strategies for solving a problem or to explain their thinking, add a few lines to the homework sheet explaining that,” says Koehn.
As Koehn explains, when parents understand what your goals are at school it equips them to better support students at home.
2. Share student learning
Another way to engage parents is to show them their children’s learning in action. Share a 30-second video of students solving a math problem or even send a picture of an in-progress project.
Include a message encouraging parents to ask their children questions about what they are learning and how they solved a problem.
Koehn says research shows when students are able to articulate their ideas and strategies for solving a math problem, it helps support their math learning and understanding.
3. Link math to home life
You can also increase parent (and student) engagement by learning how parents use math at home and in their careers, and then creating engaging math problems using that information.
For instance, Koehn worked with a 6th-grade teacher who has students interview their parents about how they use math during back to school night. After learning that one parent was an event planner, the teacher created a large class project where students acted as event planners preparing for a class party.
As Koehn explains, research on cognitively-guided instruction shows when students understand the context of a math problem, they have more strategies and are more successful at solving problems.
4. Invite parents into your classroom
Parents love coming into the classroom to see students at work but finding a time that works isn’t always easy. Koehn suggests polling parents to determine when it’s convenient for them to visit your classroom and then holding hands-on information sessions or workshops.
One teacher had parents come in after morning drop-off to preview upcoming math lessons. They engaged in problem-solving and reviewed sample problems and vocabulary, leaving with a clear understanding of the math and the learning goals.
“She had an amazing result on her district periodic assessment data because the parents were able to preview, review and engage in the math and know what was happening,” explains Koehn. “When kids came home with questions parents felt better equipped to answer them. And because they knew what kids were doing they were able to ask questions to get students to talk.”
Math skills can be a gatekeeper to many things later in life, affecting everything from college admissions and career choices to the development of STEM skills and 21st-century learning skills.
“We want to have two-way communication as early as possible to support our children,” says Koehn. “So I think schools and families need to connect and be partners in supporting your child’s education — and that is especially important in math.”