FOREWORD 
"The greatest good we can do for others is not just to share our riches with them, but to reveal theirs to themselves"
Parent involvement coordinators believe in parents. They seek out parents' strengths and welcome their initiatives. They relish the exchange of ideas and support. They join parents in a partnership which encourages growth and celebrates confidence.

As you know, being a parent involvement coordinator is not always easy. Often staff members become entrenched in habit, communities return to indifference, parents grow weary. Your tasks are varied and others' expectations pull you in many directions. Focusing your energy is difficult.

This handbook seeks to help you as you clarify your role and explore new ways to do your job well. It builds on Head Start's years of rich and successful experence and so is a tribute to you and all who have shared their insights during these years.

In Chapter One, a history of parent envolvement in Head Start is presented. Chapter Two focuses on roles, relationships, and duties of the parent involvement coordinator. Chapter Three explores staff attitudes towards parents, while Chapter Four deals with the basic tasks of parent involvement. Chapters Five through Eight focus on ways in which coordinators can promote parents' participation in each of the four forums - decision-making groups, the classroom, parent activity groups, and the home. Chapter Nine provides guidance on writing a parent involvement plan. In Chapter Ten, the basic elements of the required communications system are discussed. Chapters Eleven and Twelve suggest methods for documenting and evaluating parent involvement. Chapter Thirteen closes the handbook with some thoughts about how Head Start can affect the lives of families.

Throughout, the handbook emphasizes Head Start's belief in you - your ideas, your abilities, your commitment to parents. It bids you to believe in yourself.

A WORD ABOUT WORDS

Head Start staff work with parents in a variety of settings and often have responsibilities in addition to those of involving parents. The term, parent involvement coordinator, is used in this handbook to denote the person at the grantee or delegate agency level who assumes responsibility for parent involvement. It is understood that many of the activities described in this book will be conducted at the center level with the help of designated center personnel.

Since children might live with one or both parents, or a grandparent, a foster parent, or a legal guardian, we use the word, parent, to mean the child's primary caregiver. Children are referred to, interchangeably, as male or female.

Table of Contents | Chapter One

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