Family Involvement

The evidence is beyond dispute: Parental involvement improves student achievement. The US Dept. of Education states:

“Research confirms, regardless of the economic or cultural background of the family, when parents are partners in their children's education, the results are improved student achievement, better school attendance, reduced dropout rates, and decreased delinquency. Efforts that connect families and schools will help children succeed in school and in their future.”

Set these findings in action through the Family School Calendar Programs. Themes included but are not limited to: Positive Behavior, Good Character, Safe and Bullly-Free Zones, Study Skills, Operation Graduation, and fully customized.

For today’s busy families, time is often a barrier to parent involvement. That is why this resource, The Family School Calendar, is so effective. It provides a simple, fully prepared and efficient way to strengthen the family unit, support school activities and remain involved in a child’s education.

Each Calendar Program fosters positive behavior, reinforces classroom activities and connects schools to home and homes to schools. There are over 200 themes to choose from. Each calendar provides "family instruction, suggestions and ideas" that support the teacher's lessons and Principal's message.

For Families

The Family School Calendar establishes the vital connection between families, students, schools, and the communities to help all children meet high standards and fortify the family. The Family School Calendar, designed for use in the home, provides daily sayings, ideas, thoughts, motivational exercises and information that reinforce classroom activities, academic goals, build self-esteem and a lay a foundation of good character for students and family members. Each calendar month focuses on a different character trait. Each day of the month provides ideas and information to think about, talk about and set into motion with your child and family. The Family School Calendar serves as an effective tool to promote family conversations and provides useful information about the school year. It includes definitions. real life photos and jingles associated with different character traits, which create an immediate connection between good character and the images. 

Every month features a universal qualities and suggested activities for family members to enjoy. Every month, a new theme present a real life image to connect positive behavior with a particular character quality as well as a simple definition to develop and promote a common vocabulary.

 Order your calendar today for your family or for your students.

For Schools

The Family School Calendar

The Family School Calendar is an extension of an academic, character development program. It supports academic goals while promoting good behavior, self-esteem and a positive school climate.  The Family School Calendar reinforces the classroom activities. Each month features a specific character trait or topic, a real life image, and a jingle.

These life-like images summarize the content for the character trait into a picture that is familiar to a child creating an immediate connection between the image and the trait when seen in real life. A jingle is provided to increase memory retention. The simple definition develops a common vocabulary.

The purpose of the real-life images is to help a child understand and recall the foundations of good character by connecting the meaning of a character trait to an image that is often seen or easily recognized, thus creating an immediate link between the child and the picture. A relevant jingle is associated with each image to further enhance memory retention.

Each calendar month presents a broad overarching theme that relates to topics being discussed at school.

Implementation: Suggestion for Use

Monthly

1. At the beginning of the month, read the trait and definition on the colored notepaper.
2. Discuss what this trait means to your child and family.
3. Talk about ways to incorporate the characteristic in your daily lives.
4. Note the image associated with the character trait.
5. Read the jingle with your child.
6. Ask you child to associate that image with the character trait every time it is seen.
7. At the end of the month, discuss how the character quality became more alive for family members.
8. Talk about how many times the image was noticed throughout the month.

Daily

1. Review the definition of the character trait noted for each month
2. Associate the image on the top of the calendar with the character trait
3. Read the jingle associated with the image.
4. Ask your child to repeat the jingle and think of it every time they see the image.
5. Read the information or message each day.
6. Talk about how it can be practiced during the day.
7. At the end of the day, recap how the trait was applied.
8. Encourage your child to practice good character.

Corresponding Components

The Principal’s Principles – The Principal’s Principles is a nationally recognized book composed of daily “morning starters” to be read over the public broadcast system. This proven resource promotes good behavior, fosters a positive school climate, builds a common vocabulary and establishes a positive frame of reference for every day. It contains thirty-six different character topics and traits. There are five daily “minute messages” per topic.

The Teacher’s Teachings

The Teacher’s Teachings is an anthology of concise, skill-based, character-building lessons uniquely written in the context of academics. Lessons require NO teacher preparation, integrate seamlessly into the curriculum, and are fully aligned to state content standards. This forty page book contains thirty-six different character topics and traits, each presenting 5 different lesson activities.

The Community Connection

The Community Connection provides information available on the Internet available for universal access, which supports the activities and lessons being used in schools and home.