Tips for Helping Parents with Shurley English

I understand that getting parents involved in your classroom can be challenging for many teachers; however, many parents begin to make themselves heard when a school or teacher implements a new curriculum.  Especially when it is a new curriculum as unique as Shurley English.

You’ve probably heard such comments as:

“Why is my child chanting?”

“I don’t know how to help my child with this stuff!”

“My parents told me to draw slanted lines under the words, and now I’m confused!”

If a parent learned how to analyze the grammatical components of sentences at all during their academic career, they might have been exposed to diagraming. Traditional diagramming teaches you to identify components of a sentence and arrange them in a systematic way by placing words on lines. The Shurley English Question and Answer Flow is a simple and more modern version of that and has proven to challenge adults that never learned this new methodology.  So, right off the bat, if the people helping your students with Language Arts homework struggled with grammar and writing concepts, they may not understand our unique methodology let alone recognize how it connects to the writing process.

Here are a few ideas that have been used over the years to help parents understand and get excited about their child’s ELA time with Shurley English:

Parent Help Booklet: This booklet provides an overview of the unique features in Shurley English. Now, your parents can have a reference tool to help and encourage their children at home. You can find this booklet on our website at www.shurley.com.  (For step-by-step download instructions, click here.)

YouTube Videos: So that parents can see how Shurley English looks and sounds in the classroom, we encourage you to direct parents to our YouTube Channel to view classroom demonstrations. Also, we have a Parent Help Series playlist for additional in-home support.

SEDA Lessons: If your school has the Shurley Digital Classroom, your students have access to SEDA. Within the Student eBook, SEDA allows students (and parents) to watch prerecorded lessons. SEDA is a great tool to help parents better understand each lesson and to facilitate in-home learning.

Classroom Observation:  Why not hold a classroom observation? Allowing parents to observe you teaching a Shurley English lesson will go a long way in helping them understand their child’s language arts curriculum.

Making the Connection Bulletin Board: We encourage you to show the transfer of grammar into writing on your wall.  Together, tie Sentence Blueprints, the Writing Process, Final Drafts, and Across the Curriculum or Enrichment Activities on a creative bulletin board or in a slide show that you can share with parents.

Literacy Night: Hosting a Literacy Night has been successful for many schools around the nation.  Showcase some Shurley Jingles, Question & Answer Flow patterns, and Published Writing pieces from a variety of grade levels.  Give your students the opportunity to shine in front of their families!

Go Virtual: Almost all of the ideas we have provided above can be virtual experiences. Now, more than ever, parents are embracing virtual meetings, so don’t hesitate to enlist the help of your webcam in order to create a virtual parent-help experience.