Every year near the beginning of the school year, I ask the families of my students to work together to make a family project with pictures of loved ones to help provide a home school connection. I keep them displayed all year so the child can look at the pictures anytime. Last year, we sent home a file folder cut into the shape of a t shirt and hung them on hangers from the ceiling.
You can see more of them
here in the post, "I Like Me!".
This year, I sent home a piece of scrapbook paper and asked them to add photos and decorate the page as a family. For now, I've hung them on a bulletin board to resemble a quilt, with the caption, "Our classroom is stitched together with love!". (Thanks to all who sent in caption suggestions on Facebook!) We still have a few more to be sent in before our quilt is complete, but it's looking pretty good so far. We'll leave this up for a couple of weeks, but when we're ready to change the bulletin board, we'll place each square somewhere around the classroom, so the children can see them all year. Just like many of us have pictures of our families on/near our desks, children want to see pictures of themselves and their family. It gives them a sense of both security and belonging. It's important for little ones to have that connection.
Do you have a way of helping the children make that connection while they are at school? I'd love for you to share it in the comments!
