The paper discusses the issue of homework in primary education in Slovakia. It attempts to contribute to uncovering the homework narrative that is created and used by its teaching staff and to relate it to the discourse on homework and its place in education in the Anglo-American environment. The research used content analysis of the written…

Learning to read and write efficiently is of the utmost importance in elementary school. However, writing is frequently difficult and can be demotivating for beginning writers. Fortunately these barriers can be partially alleviated with parental help. Many studies showed that parental involvement influences children's competence and motivation in…

The study aimed to deepen the understanding of parental sensitivity to their children's abilities and the nature of their scaffolding during writing tasks. We compared the parent-child writing interactions of three groups: precocious readers (PRs), same age preschoolers (SA), and older children with the same reading level (SRL) as the PRs. Each of…

The Family Backpack Project provided 249 low-income, prekindergarten children and their families with opportunities to read and listen to audio recordings of 3 sets of books in their homes. Families received English or dual-language texts (English plus Spanish, Arabic, Kurdish, or Somali) matched to their home languages. Children and their…

This article outlines how home and school working together supported the writing of lower-achieving boys. It describes an activity in which parents and children selected artefacts at home to inspire writing in school. This model of home-school partnership permitted different levels of parental involvement and also allowed the child to take a key…

The gap in academic achievement between English speakers and English learners continues to concern educators, parents, and legislators. Rising expectations for literacy and the increasing number of students from diverse backgrounds contribute to this achievement gap. In this article, the author discusses a variety of strategies for reaching out to…

This article reports comprehensive findings from a national study of the teaching and assessment of writing in classrooms across ten Canadian provinces and two of three territories. Through interviews with 216 grade 4-8 teachers and observations and interviews in 22 classrooms (1 to 3 classrooms in each province), we gathered information about…

This article describes the Dim Sum and Chinese Restaurant Project undertaken by 6-year-old kindergarten children in Hong Kong. The article discusses the importance of listening, observing, and documenting children's actions to meet their needs and interests. The kindergarten program that participated in this project is a nonprofit kindergarten…

This study presents the results of a fifteen-month research project conducted with a group of Latina (Mexicana) immigrant mothers who took part in an after-school family literacy program that was grounded in a participatory approach to education. This family literacy program emphasized a "strengths" perspective by acknowledging the rich resources…

Noting that parent involvement in their children's schooling is a key to academic success, this book provides techniques and strategies for parents to help them assist their children with homework completion without conflict. Chapter 1, "Getting Started," includes guidance on who should help with homework and how to set a homework…

The purpose of this action research project report was to increase the homework completion rate of middle school students through the use of interventions. The participants in this study came from one public middle school. The participants were thirty-four 6th grade students in language arts, respectively. The intervention took place from…

Examines the types of literacy support parents gave their children at home with 15 students from a diverse class of 23 third graders during an eight-week integrated unit on writing autobiographies. Finds pattern differences between genders with respect to the nature of support given at home. Suggests that particularly African-American males…

A home writing program was developed and implemented using 22 second-grade target students to increase writing proficiency by soliciting parent involvement with home writing and to improve attitudes toward writing. Students attending a north central Florida school were supplied with a writing suitcase containing thematic story starter cards, a…

Recognizes the essential role parents play in teaching and learning, the importance of developing both compassion and intelligence, and a shared responsibility for creating a more equitable world. Focuses on two sets of written conversations that parents and children created after reading texts about civil rights and human rights. (SG)

This lesson introduces Family Message Journals, a tool for encouraging family involvement and supporting writing to reflect and learn. First and second graders are led into composing through demonstration, guided writing, and finally independent writing of messages that they will bring home for family to read and write a reply. During the three…