Chapter 3: Home-School Communication

“How I dread this conference with Jose’s mom. She takes offense at every suggestion I make.” Although both teachers and parents may deeply care about the child, teachers and parents may fear communicating their concerns to each other. Open and regular home-school, two-way communication will replace these fears with knowledge, confidence, and caring to work with each other. Educators and homes have many diverse options to implement this two-way communication and create a collaborative climate between home and school.

Establishing two-way communication between families and the school becomes a critical aspect of school life, according to Simon and Epstein (this volume, Ch. 1) because the child is the focus of the educational enterprise. However, educators play the initial role to reach out and connect with families in order to create and maintain this two-way communication. The better the communication between the home and school, the less stress the child experiences as he navigates between these two cultures.