Parent/Guardian Resources

Supporting LTEL students takes a dedicated team-the teacher, the parent or guardian, and the student are all members of an LTEL’s support team.

Here are a few things you can do at home to help ensure your LTEL is making academic progress.

1. Read. Have your student read at home at least 30 minutes three times a week. A student who reads often will develop stronger language and literacy skills. Reading doesn’t have to be boring and can be something that families do together. Set the oven timer and ask your child to read to you for thirty minutes as you wash the dishes or fold laundry. Allow your older child to read to their younger sibling before they go to bed. If you have the time, you can read to your child for 30 minutes before they go to bed as well. Use the Nightly Reading Log to keep track and monitor your child’s nightly reading.

Example homework planner

2. Homework/Planner check. Every start of school year students are given planners in which they are required to write down their homework and classroom learning objectives. It is vital that your student gets the language practice they need by completing their nightly homework assignments. Simply asking your child if they have completed their homework is not enough. Ask them to take out their planner, and check to see what assignments they have due. Ask students to show you their completed assignments. Give them a star in their planner for every assignment they have completed. Perhaps at the end of two weeks, if your child has completed all assignments without prompting, you can take them for ice cream or to the park. Small rewards go a long way.

3. Encourage language. Everyday ELLs are learning and absorbing language. Encourage new vocabulary by using the new vocabulary terms your student learned in school in the house. Try taping up the newly learned words of the week to the refrigerator and having your student say the word in a sentence when they pass by. Make it a game that every time your student hears the vocabulary term used during their favorite television program they keep a tally.

Also, remember that it is critical and vital that in the home primary language is continued and honored. An LTEL will have more success in their second language acquisition if their primary language skills are built up. Read to your child in their home language, have conversations about academic topics with your child using the primary language. Ultimately encouraging communication and literacy is the goal.

Colorincolorado is a great website with lots of parent resources.