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In order to incorporate our students funds of knowledge in our instruction we must first get to really know the child beyond the usual teacher-student relationship. If we learn that our student is very knowledgeable about farming and/or growing plants, we can ask them to teach students about the best ways to grow plants or share their experience about farming when teaching about the life cycle of a plant or give a presentation for career day . Other times we can incorporate their culture into our teaching. When learning about Chinese New Year, we can ask a student's parents to come in and share the importance of it or a treat their family likes to eat to celebrate it, or a dance that's common in their culture. This way students get a firsthand experience and are more engaged in learning.

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One way we can learn more about our student's funds of knowledge is by sending home a questionnaire home at the beginning of the school year. In it we can ask what is something that is interesting or unique about  the child, which can include life experiences and/or interests. The teacher can tell parents about the Funds of Knowledge approach in teaching and how it can help contribute to children's learning and ask which parents are willing to participate in home visits by teacher. Then the teacher can also inform the parents about what the children will be learning from here to December and ask if parents can contribute to any of the lessons they will be learning about. (Then in December send parents another notification thanking those who helped and contributed to lessons and informing parents about the lessons from January to the end of the school year and ask for new volunteers.

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I learned that Funds of Knowledge is a good way to learn about the families and most importantly about our students. In the beginning of the school year in have a questionnaire that I share with families in English and Spanish just to get to know my students better, but I didn’t realize this was a form of funds of knowledge. For the following years I would like to add more questions to get to know their household and culture in more depth. It is important for us as teachers to get to know our students as most as possible to have significant instruction. After listening to the Power Point presentation, I like the idea of what the professor’s children teacher did, using pictures, and recipes of her experiences from her trips. She grasped her student’s attention in this way (this is something I would definitely begin to do).

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Funds of knowledge is a great way of learning more about our students and their families. As educators it is important to foster relationships with parents that allow for open communication. Integrating the cultural experiences of our students into the classroom is a great way to connect with our students. Additionally, by incorporating their background experiences we will be able to form deeper connections with our students and tap into their knowledge. I think that having cultural projects or cultural nights in school is a great way to get students to share things about their culture. This would also allow for teachers to learn about their student’s culture and experiences.

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The article Funds of Knowledge for Teaching, teaches us that we do not only look at the family’s “poor” economic status but at the experiences of the child. We as teachers need to learn about the child as whole person, not only as a student. We must use the positive views of the household to create meaningful classroom instruction. During Multicultural Day my parents enjoy making presentations about where they are from. They talk about the foods they grow and eat, but they also share their experiences in school, what and how they celebrate holidays that are not celebrated in the United States. The presentations help by giving new ideas on how to try new hands on experiences.

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Funds of knowledge give educators an opportunity to embrace a student's cultural background and increase our awareness of the value the culture brings to the classroom.
For example, each month our families get to work on a project with their children that we display within our school: classroom or hallway bulletin board.  The funds of knowledge approach has increased my interest in creating a project before the semester ends that will teach us about our students cultural backgrounds in addition to what we have already learned. Moll & Greenburg (1990) state that our analysis of funds of knowledge represnets a psotive view of households as containing ample cultural and cognitive resources with great, potential utility for classroom instructin. I feel that if we actively build a bridge connecting us with our students' families then we are actively developing classroom that connects both environments.

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We can incorporate our students funds of knowledge in our instruction by providing opportunities for our students to share their family culture and background through projects that connect to the curriculum but at the same time teaches about their culture and relates to their everyday life.  For example, we can have students create a bilingual book based on a traditional story from their parents culture or home.  Another example that I especially liked was that of inviting the parents in to share information about their country.  This is engaging and at the same time the students will be learning about different parts of the world.

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We can learn about our students funds of knowledge by conducting home visits in which we will observe, interview and take notes of the family. We can also send home questioners to get to know the family. We can have students complete research projects about their families or invite family members into the classroom to share their life experiences for example may have a career day in which the parents will come in and talk about their careers or a culture night in which the different cultures can be shared.

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I incorporate Funds of Knowledge in my practice by inviting families in the classroom to share their experiences and special skills such as cooking, reading and singing in another language, writing Chinese characters, etc. Also, in the beginning of the year I invite my students to create books about their families and communities. In addition, we celebrate major holidays our families celebrate (e.g. Jewish, Russian and Chinese customs)

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At the nursery school I taught before coming to DOE, we did home visits before children start school. The goal of these visits was to learn about the families who is coming to you, and to get to know their cultures, habits, experiences, parenting styles, etc. This is all valuable information that should be reflected in teaching. I worked with multicultural families who came to the US for work (UN families). It was important for me to get to know about these families even before the children start school, because this information helped me to set up the classroom and plan the curriculum that is oriented around the children's experiences and prior knowledge.

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From the video and the article, I learned that Funds of Knowledge is a tool in early childhood settings and Head Start. The goal of this tool is to learn about the families you will be working with by exploring their household culture, interests and experiences. The data collected from the household visit and interview should influence the teaching practices and curriculum taught in the classroom. I think that the main idea of Funds of Knowledge is to teach by building on the students' home experiences and prior knowledge they get from their families and communities.

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Sharing out is a very strong way to create an inviting environment to urge the students to be part of this community. I wish I could know this earlier so that I can practice it even more.

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We can incorporate our students  fund of knowledge in our instruction by taking to account our students knowledge and customs and comparing it to units covered. Teacher's can attempt to plan ahead units and incorporate information that student's can relate to. For example, for a unit on different parts of the world (China Unit- fourth grade) the teacher can have students compare what they learn to how things are done in their country (education, laws). Parent participation can also help generate information that students can build on (interviews, research projects, art projects etc.).

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We can learn about our students funds of knowledge by having them participate in activities that allow the opportunity to learn about were they family is from. The most common way to incorporate students knowledge about where their family is from can be through events such as multicultural days, research projects, and all about me activities. Another approach can be through a show and tell or even short story writing.

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We incorporate our students' funds of knowledge in our instruction by making the learning meaningful and connect the given information with their prior knowledge. The teacher is aware of what their students already know and what can be incorporated to further and enhance their learning. What are their learning styles? What are their interests? How can teacher use their culture as an advantage to enhance students' learning?

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Funds of knowledge is recommended to be applied during preschool and elementary years. This can be incorporated by having family engagement activities, multicultural days, classroom projects and a establishing open communication as to obtain and learn about students' cultures.

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How can we incorporate our students' funds of knowledge in our instruction?

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How can we learn about our students' funds of knowledge?