Recap of Parent Meetings Held on 9/24/2013

 

This week I hosted my first monthly parent meeting, which was a huge success.  We had about 40 parents attend the morning session and 15 in the evening session.  For those of you who missed it, here is a link to the video that we watched about the IB Primary Years Programme.  Following the video, I gave everyone a copy of a document that explains the IB learner profiles (Click here for a copy).  Basically, the IB learner profiles represent the characteristics that we want to develop in our students.  To support the connection between home and school, parents broke in to small groups and identified things that families can do at home to foster the learner profiles.  The groups had lively discussions that illustrated the essential role families play in helping children to develop in to well-rounded, global citizens.  Please take the time to read through the suggestions generated by both sessions and think about what you can do at home to help your child to develop all ten of the learner profiles.

Things That Parents Can do to Support the Development of the IB Learner Profiles

By Durham Parents

Principled

• Teach honesty, humility, and integrity
• Teach that there is a response for every action
• Make your child responsibility for themselves (i.e. homework, schoolwork)
• Teach about the qualities of a team
• Model/display principled behavior
• Help your child to have a sense of accountability by allowing them to experience consequences of good and bad choices
• Teach positive thinking
• Appreciate differences in others

Open Minded

• Ask your child “What did you think of your learning today?”
• Discuss cultural diversity (discussing differences, show appreciation of differences, support cultural events that showcase diversity)
• Explaining things like “Fall Holiday” and its coinciding with Yom Kippur
• Exploring things that they may not like: ask why, discuss, and attempt to turn it around
• Ask for explanations, have discussions as a family
• Model open minded behavior and thinking
• Try new menu choices
• Dialogue about human behavior (“bad behavior” vs. “bad person”)
• Share your family history and heritage

Caring

• Showing interests in the needs of others
• Be community minded by volunteering
• Showing compassion for others
• Teach selflessness by reminding your child that it’s not always all about him/her
• Treat others the way you want to be treated
• Showing compassion to all

Risk-Takers

• Explore new ideas
• Experiment with your kids by trying new things
• Provide positive reinforcement for them when they take risks
• Help them to be confident in themselves
• Discuss the pros and cons of situations to help them understand risks

Balanced

• Emphasize/Demonstrate the importance of physical activity
• Expose children to different foods, cultures, and art, by taking them to festivals, museums, restaurants
• Explain that emotions are okay, but it’s how we deal with them or express them that make a difference
• Make a point to help your child to learn about different things around Houston
• Stay active by playing sports and socializing with other kids
• Have conversation with family, balance family time with solo game time
• Stay positive and show emotional balance

Reflective

• Ask your child to talk about what they learned at school
• Videotape your child in a “TV” interview about topic
• At dinner, talk about a high-point and a low-point of their day
• Offer choices of environment on homework time
• Have them share what they learned with a sibling
• Share your own learning experiences
• Talk about the news with your child
• Model journaling of your own thinking

Thinker

• Encourage your children to ask questions and then walk through the logic together
• Encourage sensitivity to others
• Expose your children to different ideas via books, music, etc
• Encourage your children to express themselves in different ways

 Knowledgeable

• Allow your child to select topic of interest and locate a list of facts
• Watch National Geographic and other educational channels together
• Enjoy the cultural in our city and the work through food, languages, and festivals
• Exposure your child to news and informational media
• Provide interactive toys with info on geography and cultures
• Reinforce curriculum from school
• Model, encourage and practice by asking for what you need or want to know

Inquirer

• Expose your child to new activities and experiences
• Have your kids develop a list of questions they may have after a new or interesting experience
• Find books and internet sites of their interest

Communicators

• Encourage your children to learn multiple languages
• Encourage arts, dance, sports, as a means of expression
• Modeling healthy communication at home, store, car, etc.
• Encourage children to speak up for themselves
• Encourage active listening
• Ask questions about why someone feels a certain way
• Ask your child to explain what new things he or she learned during the day
• Debate any problem or issues that your child may be interested in