The first step in building any kind of parent-teacher partnership is to establish an open line of communication between the parents and the teacher. Often, parents don't approach teachers about becoming involved because they're afraid the teacher will be resistant. Similarly, teachers may assume that parents are not interested in becoming active participants in the reading process. To overcome this divide, teachers should make it clear that they are open to relationships with parents. Send a letter home with students at the beginning of the year stating your expectations for parent involvement and restate your feelings during parent-teacher conferences throughout the year. Likewise, parents should use parent-teacher conferences to ask how they can help with their children's reading program.
Parents should take advantage of any opportunity to be personally involved with their children's school. Many teachers accept parent volunteers during regular classroom hours. Try to volunteer regularly so that you can see the teacher's literacy program in action and observe how the program is working for your child. Many schools also have parent-run reading programs that operate in conjunction with the regular in-class reading curriculum. If you involve yourself in these programs, not only will you have hands-on reading time with your child and his classmates, you will also have more face time with the teacher, which will improve the lines of communication.
One benefit of developing a reading partnership is that both the teacher and the parents can personalize a reading program to a student's specific needs. Whether the student is struggling, at grade level or excelling beyond the rest of his class, a personalized approach will help him to develop his skills and enthusiasm for reading. If the parents and teacher work together, it will be easier to develop an effective plan. Parents can fill the teacher in on the student's interests and reading habits and teachers can give parents tips on helping the student to read at home.
It is the teacher's job to help the student with his reading during classroom time, but parents must consider it their job to encourage reading at home. If a child is exposed to literature and develops a love of reading, he will be more likely to excel in his school reading program. Encourage casual reading throughout the day by playing board games, asking your children to jot down phone messages and discussing items in the newspaper. Set aside formal reading time with your children every day -- either reading aloud to smaller children or enforcing quiet reading time for older kids and asking them questions about what they've read.