Hosting Family Events to Support Children’s Development

Parents are their child’s first and most important teacher. However, some parents are uncertain or lack confidence in their role as their child’s primary teacher. Hosting planned, playful, and purposeful family events are an excellent way to prepare parents to be successful home educators and engage as partners in their child’s educational support team. This type of active family engagement has been shown to positively impact student achievement levels and educational aspirations.

Teaching Together

Learning through Collaboration

The Children’s Learning Institute, in partnership with the Children’s Museum of Houston, has created a series of family education events that support family engagement for children in preschool to Grade 1. We recommend planning 30- to 60-minute interactive sessions with families in which educators explain how to extend early learning at home using the linked resources. Most importantly, give families opportunities to practice guiding their child’s learning by setting up hands-on activity stations while educators circulate around the room to give parents guidance and support. This combination of providing information with feedback from teachers builds parents’ competencies and skills for extending learning at home.