Dr. Kristi Smith shares practical tips and suggestions for building bridges between school and home, partnering with parents in the educational process, and specifically navigating conferences with parents.

• “I am here to share my context and my experiences, and to network and partner with educators in what they are doing. It’s through that partnership and that interchange of information that we become stronger as a whole.”
• “A parent is a child’s best teacher.” -Dr. Brazelton
• “Outside of school and church, most children and adults spend the majority of their time in small group settings instead of large group instructional settings. People behave differently in large groups than they do in small groups.”
• “[Parents] know their child better than I can ever know them, and it’s important for us to work together in partnership.”
• “Partnering with parents is helping us to come together to help the children become independent, successful future learners.”
• “If we approach it as a relational event versus telling them what their child is doing or not doing, then it changes this to a conversation instead of a lecture. We have to remember that this is a partnership to train a child in the way that they need to go.”
• “When a parent finds someone reaching to them to try to meet them at their point of need, relationship gets built and barriers start falling down and positive steps go forward.”
• “Any partnership is better than none at all. How can we meet that parent where they’re at?”
• “We need to have constant communication with accurate information.”
• “I’m seeing XYZ. What are you seeing at home? Do you have any tips for me?”
• “Stay strong. It takes time. Bridging home to school actually takes time, but in the long run, it pays off. It pays off not only for you in the class, but it pays off for that child and for that family.”

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