Why Community Book Clubs Are The Secret To Teachers' Parent Involvement Woes

Struggling to build meaningful relationships with your students' parents? Want to cultivate these relationships and take a stab at improving community literacy? Here's why community book clubs are your way to go!

1. They're really difficult to say "no" to!

As teachers, we ask our parents for a lot. School supplies donations, supervision of their child's homework, etc. It's totally understandable when our parents can't volunteer for every emailed whim a teacher sends out. At our school, however, parents often hide behind the curtain when it comes to any involvement, at all.

By catching parents at our first annual "mandatory" face-to-face parent report card pick-up night (whew, that was a mouthful), I was able to present them with a very simple way to get involved in their child's education, and enhance their own literacy skills. I set up a booth and signaled down every wandering eye I saw. I handed parents a book (I chose "A Long Walk to Water" by Linda Sue Park, mostly due to the fact that we own over 100 copies of the book), an informational bookmark, and asked if we'd see them at our first book club meeting in a little over a month.

By choosing a text that was short, easy to read, relevant, and enjoyable, I expect to see many of the parents and families who grabbed a book at our first meeting next week!

2. They offer an opportunity for teacher/parent convos that don't normally happen!

When was the last time you talked to a parent about something other than their child's work? Think about some of the more meaningful conversations and relationships you've had. Mine often revolve around books.

Even from our report card night, where I chatted with each parent for mere minutes, I had some intriguing conversations that I feel I will definitely continue when I see these parents again. These conversations are building the foundation of real relationships and real trust between teachers in my school and the parents in our community. As a newer school, this trust is really yet to be built, so I'm excited to jump at this opportunity.

3. They demonstrate that literacy is our priority, and we want to help our families incorporate that at home!

We do everything we can for our students and their literacy skills within the confines of an eight-hour school day. To really help them hone and grow these skills, literacy practice just has to happen at home, too.

By encouraging parents to read alongside their children, we hope that students will prioritize literacy practice at home as a necessary part of their everyday routine. An added bonus with the design of this community book club is that parents are reading the same text as their child, and we will be guiding them through how to have conversations centered around a shared text.

4. Oh, and not to mention, book clubs have great snacks. What better way to build relationships with community members, than with books AND food?

Stay tuned to hear more about participation rates in our community book club, and our group decision on what to read together next!

Feel free to follow us on Twitter, with @GHMSReads!