We’re big fans of Learning Heroes at Illinois PTA, not only for their fantastic family resources, but also for their enlightening research and commitment to meaningful family engagement. As the school year kicks off, Learning Heroes has launched their Ready to Team Up resources for families to help them partner with their child’s teacher for student success. As they always are, the resources are also available in Spanish.

These resources include ready-to-use items to help you assess where your child is academically, inform your child’s teacher about their strengths and weaknesses, and create a plan for the school year on how you can support your child. You can:

  • Start with the Readiness Check, a grade-specific short (3-5 questions) quiz to show where your K-8 child is academically in English and Math
  • Check out five quick ways you can build a relationship with your child’s teacher
  • Use a fill-in-the-blank Dear Teacher letter to inform your child’s teacher about their strengths and weaknesses and how to contact you
  • Team up with your child’s teacher to create a plan for the year using the Parent-Teacher Planning Tool so you know what your child needs to learn this year and how you can support that at home
  • Watch short videos and find activities to help support your child in building the life skills you care about

Research has shown time and time again that a family that is meaningfully engaged in a child’s learning can make a huge difference in how that child performs academically. The difference can be as significant as the district spending an additional $1,000/student in the classroom. So be your child’s learning hero and team up with their teacher for success.