As we’re looking at the importance of the child/family/school interaction, it’s important to reflect on how you’re family was able to be engaged in your education and how that affected you. Please respond to the following:

• What role did your families have in your schooling?
• How willing or able were your families to get involved with your school?
• How open was your school to family involvement?
• What kinds of opportunities were there for your family to participate in at your school? 
• What effect do you think this had on your education? 

My response:

My father rarely came to my school as everything was done during the time that he was at work. My only memory of him coming to my school is in nursery school and to an evening high school open house. My mom came to all of my conferences. She came to school performances and recitals that I was in and in elementary school she volunteered in the library. In high school, she did not volunteer at all to my recollection. My mom’s presence in my elementary school made me feel like the school liked my mom which made me feel like I was more a part of the school. I remember being very excited each time I saw her and I felt like I received special attention from my teachers and my classmates when she was there.  

I think my grammar school made volunteering easy for stay-at-home family members, but not working families. I think the school did have an expectation that a family member was home and able to volunteer as both my nursery school and my elementary school depended on family volunteers.