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Amy Manley

Professor Recendez

EDUC-X 426

9 May 2021

Parents and Students

While I am not currently teaching in a classroom, the kids’ service at my church, with which I

help each Sunday, is very similar to a classroom environment. Parents drop their children off each week

to the same set of adults and trust us to guide and teach their children. We build relationships with the

kids, play games, set rules and expectations for behavior, and provide instruction in a teacher-led, large-

group format.

Although I do have a sense of their religious beliefs, I do not know more than a superficial

amount about the cultural, linguistic, and educational backgrounds of the children and parents that I

serve. A few parents are my personal friends and I know more about their families, but in general,

parents are not asked for extensive personal information when they register their children for kids’

church. It is uncomfortable to ask for more than a name, phone number, the child’s birth date, and list

of allergies, and some parents do not even want to give that information. We are generally aware if the

family attends the Spanish service and those children typically speak Spanish with their families. I do

not know, though, what country the family is from originally or how long they have lived in the United

States.

Some families have attended our church for many years and it is easier to gather information

about those families that we see year after year. As we interact with the children and parents each week,

a basic level of trust is established and relationships are built. Through talking with the children, we

can usually find out their grade in school, favorite foods, interests, and sibling dynamics. Some of these

we can tell are related to their culture, like one girl who said her favorite flavor of ice cream was
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mango and another said coconut. As those are not typical ice cream flavors in the United States and the

girls are Hispanic, I assume those ice cream flavors are more prevalent in their culture.

What we do know about the children, we try to use to get them interested in the lessons. We ask

the kids questions about their life experiences to help them relate what they are learning to what they

already know. We also have a greeting time where the children tell each other something about

themselves, like their favorite dessert, favorite vegetable, or favorite television show, to foster

community.

Unfortunately, not much effort is put into specifically impacting the parents through kids’

church, although there are times when parents get into meaningful discussions with the leaders when

dropping off or picking up their kids. I would like to see the ministry be geared toward the whole

family, not just toward the children. For new families, I would like to have the pastor or a leader call

the parents to welcome them, ask them what they would like us to know about their children (Purcell-

Gates), and begin to build a relationship with the family. To build camaraderie, we could plan informal

events where families can get to know each other and the church leaders, like a picnic in the park or a

pizza lunch after church. I also believe the parents should be invited to attend meetings to discuss what

they would like to have their children learn in the kids’ program. Additionally, Pedro A. Noguera

described how the San Francisco Unified School District “provided transportation, translation, and

child care to make it possible for parents from the poorest parts of the city to participate”

(“Transforming Urban Schools Through Investments in the Social Capital of Parents” 204). Our church

also needs to have a translator for all family events and childcare for any meetings so that all parents

can participate and feel included.

Although these ideas are designed for the dynamics of our church, much of it applies to the

classroom. When I do return to teaching, I want to create a warm environment for the students and
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opportunities to engage their parents in open and friendly conversations. I need to view the classroom

as a place to serve the entire family, not just as a place to teach math.
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Works Cited

Noguera, Pedro A. “Transforming Urban Schools Through Investments in the Social Capital of

Parents.” pp. 189-212.

Purcell-Gates, Victoria. “How Teachers Can Learn from Communities and Parents.” YouTube, uploaded

by Learning for Justice, 15 March 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37-vSuX0fd4.