Eltham College

Eltham College is a multi-campus, K–12 Australian school. It has close associations worldwide, principally, in China. Eltham ’s Knowledge Network forms the basis of all communications within the College community, including its overseas interests. Knowledge Network contains the Student Learning Management System[SLMS] jointly developed by Eltham and Corskills Australia. SLMS is a total package that includes students’ work and resources online, subject information, reporting, and direct teacher/student and teacher/parent contact information. The Senior teacher-librarian has developed an interactive online Information Literacy Skills course for Grades five and six students that links to SLMS.

Evaluating the Effect of Positive Parent Contact on Elementary Students’ On-Task Behavior

Family–school partnership has consistently been associated with positive student outcomes. Unfortunately, efforts to engage parents are often demanding, with limited planning around reinforcement needed to sustain participation. The study purpose was to evaluate a behavioral approach to enhance teacher–parent communication and improve student on-task classroom behavior. Positive Parent Contact (PPC) required teachers to recognize positive behavior of a student identified for additional behavioral supports and report positive incidents to parents through two weekly emails. A multiple-baseline design was used with five participant triads (teacher, student, and parent) from two elementary schools. Visual analysis and descriptive statistics showed increased on-task behavior based on observations conducted during challenging classroom routines. Non-overlap of all pairs’ effects ranged from .67 to .90, with a combined effect of .75 (Hedges g). Results suggest that PPC improved on-task classroom behavior, and reciprocal parent–teacher communication was enhanced. Parents and teachers reported that PPC was feasible and acceptable. Limitations and implications are discussed.

Grandparents’ Relationship to Grandchildren in the Transition to Adulthood

This study investigates grandparent–grandchild relations in emerging adulthood, focusing on grandchildren’s transition to residential independence and the role of parents as mediators. Using three waves of the German Ageing Survey (DEAS), we estimate fixed effects models to assess changes in the frequency of contact and emotional closeness of 349 grandparents with 494 grandchildren aged 16 to 30 years. Grandparent–grandchild contact decreases during the transition to adulthood due to the middle generation’s declining ability to provide opportunities for intergenerational interaction as well as grandchildren’s new responsibilities after leaving the parental home. Grandparent–grandchild closeness does not change systematically in emerging adulthood, but is characterized by a high degree of temporal stability and independence of grandparent–parent contact frequency. Thus, even if contact decreases during the transition to adulthood, a continuously close emotional bond allows grandparents and grandchildren to (re)activate the support potential inherent to their relationship in times of need.

Navigating Openness and Contact in Child Welfare Adoptions

Some children who are adopted via foster care have contact with their birth families (e.g., birth siblings), yet little research has addressed this. This chapter addresses the experiences of families who adopted their children through foster care, with attention to adoptive parents’ feelings and patterns regarding birth family contact. As this chapter details, many families involved in child welfare adoptions had complex feelings about openness. Some families had significant concerns that mitigated their willingness to pursue contact. Others were opposed to birth parent contact but, to varying degrees, were willing to pursue birth sibling contact. In some cases, contact was initiated but then halted temporarily or permanently because of the perceived risks and drawbacks associated with such contact. Yet amid a lack of contact, families often remained communicatively open with their children, and some did not rule out contact in the future.

The Management of Kindergarten Students of Little Koala Montessori Karawaci Tangerang

This research aims to analyze the process of management of the students. Research was conducted at the Kindergarten Little Koala Montessori Karawaci Tangerang. Methods used the case study method by using a qualitative approach. The results showed, (1) analyzed the need for class capacity, student and teacher ratios, planned new online learner acceptance, interest and talent search and learner ability through psychological test to explore interest and talent and readiness learning, (2) making and revising the school rules of conduct book applicable to learners and understood by parents, picking up students, and ordering the parent contact book and trying to communicate in it or face-to-face directly outside the teaching hours of teachers with the promise (3) provide counseling services to solve problems in the development of learners, learning difficulties, prepare mental development, and instill confidence, character formation, and the availability of facilities and infrastructure such as books in the central library and mini library, healthy canteen school, computer lab, plant area, pets up a special swimming pool for Little Koala Montessori (4) daily learning reports in daily lesson, weekly study reports aimed at principals, Montessori monthly report cards, and reports from the Education Board and building cooperation with graduates and parents student. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the montessori plus method of effective learning management for learners

Understanding the Behaviour of Children in Care before and after Parental Contact

It is not uncommon to hear foster carers and child protection case workers comment about a child's behaviour both before and after parental contact. Frequently these comments are negative, the view being expressed that contact should be reduced because the children get upset at seeing their parents for a limited time, and then at having to separate from them. The child's resultant distress seems too difficult to manage for foster carers. Some foster parents even go so far as to suggest that parental contact should completely cease. This article sets out the rationale for parent–child contact after a Children's Court has ruled that there is “no realistic possibility of restoration” of a child to parental care. In doing so, the article revisits many of the old arguments put forward for reducing parent contact. However, alternative ways of approaching children's difficult behaviours both pre- and post-contact are also proposed to suggest different ways of managing these behaviours. The legislation and child protection practice in New South Wales provides the frame of reference for this article.