Families as Primary Curriculum Resources
If you reach out to the families in your classroom, you will find that they enrich your curriculum tremendously. Every group of children brings a host of familial language, cultural, occupational, and personal knowledge that, when combined, forms a unique community in ways both obvious and subtle. Luis Moll and colleagues described this perspective toward family involvement as a “funds of knowledge” approach (Gonzalez, Moll, & Amanti, 2005; Grant, Ray, 2010; Ordonez-Jasiz & Ortiz, 2007), cautioning that failure to recognize parents as a significant resource constitutes a deficit approach (pp. 45).
If you were writing a case study paper for a course assignment, you would certainly rely on primary or first-hand sources (e.g., observation, interviews, and so on) as the most reliable information for your description of the study subject(s). Similarly, you can consider your children’s families as primary resources for the curriculum. The knowledge and insights you gain about them should serve as a major influence for the decisions you make to plan and adapt activities so that the curriculum is relevant, meaningful, and respectful.