Bridges Program Reflection

The article I chose to focus one is about the Bridges program. This is a method on working with parents to get them involved with their child’s education. It is a word whose letters also represent the steps of the program. The steps of the program are: bridge, recruit, individualize, dialog, generate, and empower. This article is explains the bridge method, and explains how a teacher used it to maximize parental involvement.

This article focused on parent involvement through k-12. It stated that studies found parent involvement improved the learning for children with special needs. The implications of this article is profound I believe if teachers and state workers adopt this I also didn’t agree with the article when I said that the reason

I do like that the article conveys the importance on knowing every student and home situation is different and not every technique works for everyone. That is one of the most important things to grasp when education or working for special needs individuals.

The first thing that the article touches on is the importance of parental involvement. Honesty that is the gospel when working with special needs individuals. I personally work with special needs adults, who have a state waiver to care for them. I am responsible for teaching and caring for them on a daily basis. I have seen firsthand the importance of having a family member or guardian as an important and integral part of the team. Many of my clients have problems regarding behavior because of their past treatment either in the state run institutions and/or by society at large. That unfortunately messes them up, and makes them sad. So when they act out of anger or sadness it

I agree with this because in my experience a parent generally isn’t as willing to work with you until you can convey the fact you care about their child. So building trust is the first thing. Then the article talks about recruiting their input. I also agree this is a very important step on establishing learning outcomes that they can or have the ability to work one. Also some parents can get unhappy if they believe they’re not having input on their child’s education. Then the third step this article talks about is Individualize. I have to say this is also very important. Everyone is different, and when it comes to someone with special needs the whole situation can depend on how you approach them. So as a teacher if you approach them wrong or try and generalize how you’re going to teach them, then things will go