Pre-Teaching by Parents Preparing Children for Classroom Concepts and Vocabulary
Pre-Teaching by Parents Preparing Children for Classroom Concepts and Vocabulary
Parent Roles
Will my child do well in school? What can we expect? These are concerns that families of young children with hearing loss may have. Parents are often uncertain how they might support their child’s class participation and academic progress. The roles of parents in a child’s schooling will vary depending on family styles, teacher preferences, classroom placements and student strengths.
Parents can initiate contacts with educators to discuss supporting a child’s learning. They might arrange to call new teachers, attend team meetings or a send a “Meet My Child” summary. This contact can start ongoing interactions between home and school. By staying in touch with school staff and sharing observations, families can encourage their young child’s curiosity and knowledge.
Students learn new concepts by applying ideas to what they already know. Building on their existing background knowledge helps children think, read, write, and discuss new ideas and concepts. If students seem to need more background knowledge, they may benefit from pre-teaching. Educators often start new lessons with pre-teaching that can include new vocabulary, initial reading or skill practice in class.
Families can also build a child’s knowledge. Pre-teaching at home could either be done as periodic
activities or a scheduled plan. Families might do activities to increase awareness of class topics. If specific knowledge is needed parents could ask staff how to develop a pre-teaching plan for home.
Families could include textbook reading, word study, or related projects in their plans.
Pre-teaching at home to support class lessons:
- Discussing upcoming concepts
- Introducing relevant vocabulary
- Previewing info from textbook
- Reviewing directions for in-class tasks
- Using graphic organizers to chunk info
- Responding to questions for discussions
Examples of parent-school coordination for pre-teaching. Parents might:
- Request the class calendars that list the main themes or target concepts for each week or month. Ask what standards or goals will be taught.
- Check if there is an extra set of books or a grade-level guide to use as a reference. Identify what topics children may need to explore more.
- Inquire about collaborating with staff such as a resource teacher, DHH teacher or speech therapist who knows the class curriculum.
- Explain that the family’s goal is to support the teacher’s instruction and prepare children to participate fully with peers or work independently.
- Welcome suggestions from teachers for what concepts to pre-teach, how often to pre-teach and when to update staff on progress at home.
Pre-teaching during family activities for informal teaching:
- Discuss family experiences related to subjects
- Explore concept(s) within typical family routines
- Read books to increase background knowledge
- Experiment to explore new ideas
- Make a video, poster or graphic to share
- Invent a dance, skit, or story about interests
Examples of adult-child pre-teaching activities. Families might:
- Locate on a map where family reside or visit. Video-chat about customs and geographic features there. List similarities between those places and where a child lives. (social studies).
- Search for items that are solid, liquid or gas. Experiment with the changing shapes of matter (i.e. ice to water). Encourage a child to move their body to show matter changes. (science)
- Listen to a short audio story. Guide a child to ask questions or invent alternate versions of the story. Read a book related to the story or create a word-art poster about the topic. (literacy)
- Sort a type of food (salad vegetables, holiday candies) by color, size, or shape. Count and compare amounts. Introduce terms such as total, more, fewer. Create a mixture to eat! (math)
- Cook together with a focus on needed skills: symbols, directions, reading, sequencing, timing, estimating, measuring, predicting, observing, problem-solving or writing. (multiple subjects)
Educational Progress
Students with hearing loss have individual interests and talents that shape their academic progress. Encouragement to discover and discuss ideas increases a child’s comprehension and confidence. Pre teaching by parents is not needed by every child nor in every subject and not every day. If pre-teaching is done at home, plans can be supportive, and activities can be fun. Parents can use pre-teaching to connect with schools about a child’s achievements and challenges, so everyone learns!
Pre-Teaching by Parents Preparing Children for Classroom Concepts and Vocabulary
Parent Roles
Will my child do well in school? What can we expect? These are concerns that families of young children with hearing loss may have. Parents are often uncertain how they might support their child’s class participation and academic progress. The roles of parents in a child’s schooling will vary depending on family styles, teacher preferences, classroom placements and student strengths.
Parents can initiate contacts with educators to discuss supporting a child’s learning. They might arrange to call new teachers, attend team meetings or a send a “Meet My Child” summary. This contact can start ongoing interactions between home and school. By staying in touch with school staff and sharing observations, families can encourage their young child’s curiosity and knowledge.
Students learn new concepts by applying ideas to what they already know. Building on their existing background knowledge helps children think, read, write, and discuss new ideas and concepts. If students seem to need more background knowledge, they may benefit from pre-teaching. Educators often start new lessons with pre-teaching that can include new vocabulary, initial reading or skill practice in class.
Families can also build a child’s knowledge. Pre-teaching at home could either be done as periodic
activities or a scheduled plan. Families might do activities to increase awareness of class topics. If specific knowledge is needed parents could ask staff how to develop a pre-teaching plan for home.
Families could include textbook reading, word study, or related projects in their plans.
Pre-teaching at home to support class lessons:
- Discussing upcoming concepts
- Introducing relevant vocabulary
- Previewing info from textbook
- Reviewing directions for in-class tasks
- Using graphic organizers to chunk info
- Responding to questions for discussions
Examples of parent-school coordination for pre-teaching. Parents might:
- Request the class calendars that list the main themes or target concepts for each week or month. Ask what standards or goals will be taught.
- Check if there is an extra set of books or a grade-level guide to use as a reference. Identify what topics children may need to explore more.
- Inquire about collaborating with staff such as a resource teacher, DHH teacher or speech therapist who knows the class curriculum.
- Explain that the family’s goal is to support the teacher’s instruction and prepare children to participate fully with peers or work independently.
- Welcome suggestions from teachers for what concepts to pre-teach, how often to pre-teach and when to update staff on progress at home.
Pre-teaching during family activities for informal teaching:
- Discuss family experiences related to subjects
- Explore concept(s) within typical family routines
- Read books to increase background knowledge
- Experiment to explore new ideas
- Make a video, poster or graphic to share
- Invent a dance, skit, or story about interests
Examples of adult-child pre-teaching activities. Families might:
- Locate on a map where family reside or visit. Video-chat about customs and geographic features there. List similarities between those places and where a child lives. (social studies).
- Search for items that are solid, liquid or gas. Experiment with the changing shapes of matter (i.e. ice to water). Encourage a child to move their body to show matter changes. (science)
- Listen to a short audio story. Guide a child to ask questions or invent alternate versions of the story. Read a book related to the story or create a word-art poster about the topic. (literacy)
- Sort a type of food (salad vegetables, holiday candies) by color, size, or shape. Count and compare amounts. Introduce terms such as total, more, fewer. Create a mixture to eat! (math)
- Cook together with a focus on needed skills: symbols, directions, reading, sequencing, timing, estimating, measuring, predicting, observing, problem-solving or writing. (multiple subjects)
Educational Progress
Students with hearing loss have individual interests and talents that shape their academic progress. Encouragement to discover and discuss ideas increases a child’s comprehension and confidence. Pre teaching by parents is not needed by every child nor in every subject and not every day. If pre-teaching is done at home, plans can be supportive, and activities can be fun. Parents can use pre-teaching to connect with schools about a child’s achievements and challenges, so everyone learns!